Posted on 05/24/2010 7:56:01 PM PDT by mojitojoe
BP oil leak: Fallen Deepwater Horizon was tapping second largest oil deposit in the world
If there is a single aspect to the dangers of the BP oil leak, it lies in the question CEO Tony Hayward and other BP executives have been avoiding since the first drop of oil went rogue: How much oil is leaking?
The real answer is - more than anyone wants to admit, because the well holds enough oil to make Saudi Arabian drillers jealous.
The oil field the Deepwater Horizon had tapped is said to be the second largest deposit in the world. Viewzone.com reports, The site covers an estimated 25,000 square miles, extending from the inlands of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Texas.
The oil deposit is so large, it could produce 500,000 barrels of a day for more than a decade.
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
The New York Times has reported that scientists suspect the leak is thousands of times larger than what BP has been reporting. Some estimates are as high as one million gallons a day.
Rock particles, gas and oil escaping under pressure are pushing against the capstone on the sea floor that surrounds the actual well. If it collapses, the canyon of oil will escape with a vengeance.
Thanks for posting. Interesting and scary.
Nuke it. It’s the only way to be sure.
Nuke something that big? I don’t know...
Nuke it??? Im missing something.
Are you serious? I thought Russia tried that and it didn’t work. The thought of that scares the hell out of me.
Looks like I’ll be “boycotting” the Gulf of Mexico this year. Guess I’ll stay right here in Arizona. We may not have an ocean but we’ve got some awesome sun tea!
UGH.
Man.... unimaginable.
I have been watching two different live webcams:
http://www.livestream.com/oilspill
http://globalwarming.house.gov/spillcam
On the second link, you can see equipment in front of the Plume. That was not there earlier today. They are moving equipment into place.
What slyentists, and how is it possible to hide a leak allegedly that big?
And so what if the capstone is experiencing pressure from beneath. Drilling the well couldn’t increase the pressure from what it was before. How many spontaneous gushers have we seen in the world?
The leak is 5,000 feet down, but the drilled hole is 17,000 feel below that to the deposit.
THe idea is to crush and fuse the top few 100 feet of sea floor to seal off the drilled hole, despite the pressure of the oil coming up.
Obama Admin Gave BP Rig ‘SAFETY AWARD’ Last Year Investigation Not As Claimed
AP investigations have shown that the doomed rig was allowed to operate without safety documentation required by MMS regulations for the exact disaster scenario that occurred; that the cutoff valve which failed has repeatedly broken down at other wells in the years since regulators weakened testing requirements; and that regulation is so lax that some key safety aspects on rigs are decided almost entirely by the companies doing the work.
The thought of all that all over the Florida coastlines is making me pretty damn nervous. It would crush the state when the tourists stopped coming. Everyone I know is freaking the hell out. That live cam doesn’t help. Everyone is glued to it.
I don’t buy that eather. THe deposit is 17,000 feet below the sea floor.
How bad? Do you have some links?
If all of the rube goldberg machines fail, every 2 weeks or so, and we end up in desperation nuking it 3 months from now....
WOuld it not make more sense to nuke it now?
But, a "peaceable" use of a nuke would really provide justification for North Korea and Iran to produce these weapons -- they are not for war! Oh no! They are to control environmental hazards!!
I sometimes think that Obama will take the step simply to because it would set a very dangerous precedent.
...My conspiracy theory is a North Korean torpedo was the cause. Don’t trust anyone under 50, and don’t trust the federal government, EVER!!!
Not all the Rooskie tests worked as intended, either.
I don’t think we want to deliver a powerful shock wave to that particular capstone. Nobody knows how fragile it is.
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