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 ...
To laymen, the idea of taking a scalpel and opening a chest and heart is horrific. So much could/would go wrong!
That’s why you train surgeons.
Beleive me, we have geologists and nuclear explosives experts who can do this.
I’m not saying to do it half cocked tomorrow. But we should be brining in the experts and studying all of the options.
What if it leaks a billion barrels and we do it next fall? Won’t we be pretty stupid then, not to have at least PLANNED it sooner?
Remember, the deposit is 17,000 feet below the sea floor. Geologists and nuclear weapons experts KNOW what will happen with a small tac nuke detonated at a specific point above the BOP. Just like that surgeon knows hearts.
I just read your post 27. I think it addresses my concern. Thanks
I don’t have any idea. It showed up somewhere around 3PM Pacific. I can see that it appears to have valves, but I have no clue what it is. The flow has been steady today. No big eruptions that I saw. Yesterday I believe they tried to pump in mud, but something happened that stopped them from pumping in the cement as planned.
In the end, it is going to REQUIRE drilling a second well. Relieve that pressure, which means wide open pumping at max flow to slow the uncontrolled release. (at leas ONE spot in the US will be pumping at max rate... /sigh
I am gonna totally guess, but I think the mud caused a back pressure wave that blew the mud pipe away from its insertion point. I would not be surprised at all. That Oil is under tremendous pressure.
But nukes are evil!
Forgive my ignorance, but couldn’t we start drilling like crazy around the site to siphon off some of the oil?
Where was that picture?
That equipment you see is a manifold attached to the RIT (riser insert tube). It's been there since they installed the RIT.
Earlier today I was watching and the ROV changed positions to mess with the valves on this manifold. I think in response to EPA ordering BP to reduce the use of dispersants.
It's been sitting there since then.
Agreed.
Have they tried a huge-ass cement cork?
It was scary from the get go. It is so far under water, and the reserve is SO DAMNED BIG.... It was obvious from the first that it would require drilling a second wellhead. Unless they could clear the site and get to the wellhead. Then we found out it was the wellhead that was busted....
Its catastrophic.
I leave this one constantly. It is sickening and scary to watch. I’ve seen some marine life wander to close and it sucks them right into it and they disappear.
I think the nuclear word frightens everybody. THey picture Hiroshima. I’m talking about a very small tac nuke detonated 4,500 feet under water, when the wind is right.
They might even try a conventional explosive solution, but I don’t know the physics, comparatively speaking.
But I do know that there are experts who DO KNOW.
My backyard backs up against a mangrove - a salt water stream meanders between - this is so awful...
Right on, thanks for the info. I think they moved it after yesterday’s failure. I am glad its still in place.
The World’s SECOND LARGEST DEPOSIT????? If this is true, then why in the f%$k do we not know about it??!!!!! The fact that that could be true against all we have been LEAD to believe is the true scandal here!! We have been enslaved thinking that we have to be dependent on foreign sources. Why??? THAT IS THE QUESTION THAT SHOULD BE ASKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Looks like blood - emotionally feels like blood...
They are drilling a relief well but it will take MONTHS.
Do you think they would use some megaton nuke that would split the world apart?
Do you think all hammers are 50 pound sledgehammers?
Do you know the difference between megatons, kilotons, and fractional kiloton tactical nukes?
Do you think geologists don’t undertand what that sea floor is made of, how far the other wells are, and the effect radius of a specific fractional kiloton nuke detonated at X feet above the BOP, under 5,000 feet of water?
I swear, I think people beleive ALL nukes crack apart the world and create Godzilla.
I’m not saying do it halfcocked, tomorrow. I’m saying get the experts to studying the OPTION now.
Or, let’s wait for a billion barrels to leak out, and begin to study the OPTION a billion leaked barrels from now.
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