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Discovery of second pipe in Deepwater Horizon riser stirs debate among experts
The Times-Picayune ^ | July 9, 2010 | David Hammer

Posted on 07/12/2010 7:36:00 AM PDT by Natural Born 54

For the first time Friday, the Coast Guard and BP acknowledged that a mysterious second pipe, wedged next to the drill pipe in what remains of the Deepwater Horizon's riser, is fouling up the works where the well is spewing hundreds of millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

(snip)

While Allen said he believes the second pipe fell from above, some experts have advanced another explanation. They believe poorly cemented casings -- tubes that are supposed to form solid walls down thousands of feet of the well bore -- may have been dislodged by the blast of natural gas that shot up out of the well and above the sea floor.

(snip)

The Coast Guard's acknowledgement of the two metal tubes Friday -- and a subsequent reference by BP to its plans to tie the two pipes together as the company installs a new oil collection system over the shaved-off riser -- actually comes more than a month after the Department of Energy noted the existence of two pipes using special imaging technology. At the time, BP dismissed the Energy findings as "impossible" because only one pipe in sections was used for drilling, a Tribune News Service story reported last month.

(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bp; oil; oilspill
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This article was used as the basis for another article that expanded on some of the information. The article is:

Coast Guard and BP admit ‘MYSTERIOUS second pipe’ stuck in BOP; Experts say indicates casing ‘dislodged’

This article ends with a paragraph containing this statement: "If the well casing has come up through the BOP, the relief wells are unlikely to work." At the bottom of the page is a CNBC video - one oil guy says the relief well is a sham and the other says the outlook isn't good for it to work and Obama needs another option.

1 posted on 07/12/2010 7:36:02 AM PDT by Natural Born 54
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To: Natural Born 54
At the time, BP dismissed the Energy findings as "impossible" because only one pipe in sections was used for drilling, a Tribune News Service story reported last month.

Video images of the riser when it was cut in early June clearly showed the two pipes,

Who ya gonna believe? BO or your own lyin' eyes?

2 posted on 07/12/2010 7:44:39 AM PDT by null and void (We are now in day 533 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
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To: Natural Born 54
Related thread:

BP Says It MIGHT Stop The Leak Completely Today

3 posted on 07/12/2010 7:48:05 AM PDT by null and void (We are now in day 534 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
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To: Natural Born 54

Hahahahahahaaaa...

We’re being buffaloed by these people and the administration...

When will the media, who have let these bast*rds off the hook, smarten up....?

We’re approaching 100days on this thing.

The plans they have put forth will NOT stop the leak, only capture more of the leaking oil....

The oil will leak from that site for months if not years....


4 posted on 07/12/2010 7:51:35 AM PDT by nikos1121 (Praying for minus 24 today....at least minus 23...)
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To: Natural Born 54

Not good. There has been a lot of knowledgeable talk about eroded and undermined strata due to the failed casing, which appears to be from the lower reaches of the well (ie: small diameter)which would render hopes of a relief well being effective to practically nil.

Problem is, who’s opinion can you trust? Must we sit back helplessly and watch this kabuki unfold? Liars to my right, liars to my left, stuck in the middle with you!


5 posted on 07/12/2010 7:52:22 AM PDT by pingman (Price is what you pay, value is what you get.)
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To: Natural Born 54

My engineering background is not oil but mechanical/manufacturing, but this whole deal can be summed up in just two words:

CHARLEY FOXTROT

How about running a few thousand lawyers and press agents out of the area and let the damn engineers who actually know something about the deal get to work?


6 posted on 07/12/2010 7:52:34 AM PDT by Unrepentant VN Vet (922 and a wakeup)
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To: nikos1121
We’re approaching 100days on this thing.

Pemex/Ixtoc leaked for nine months. Barely anyone remembers it today.

7 posted on 07/12/2010 7:59:06 AM PDT by agere_contra (Obama did more damage to the Gulf economy in one day than Pemex/Ixtoc did in nine months)
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To: Unrepentant VN Vet

How about stuffing them in the well until they plug it?


8 posted on 07/12/2010 8:00:22 AM PDT by null and void (We are now in day 534 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
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To: Natural Born 54

Obama: “pipe? pipe? can I smoke something good with it?”


9 posted on 07/12/2010 8:02:13 AM PDT by Enchante ("The great enemy of clear language is insincerity." -- George Orwell --)
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To: Natural Born 54

Obama top recipient of BP contributions last 20 yrs

10 posted on 07/12/2010 8:04:46 AM PDT by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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To: Natural Born 54
...such experts as oil industry investment banker Matt Simmons and Bob Bea, a University of California at Berkeley engineer...

With "experts" such as these involved is it any wonder that things are screwed up?

11 posted on 07/12/2010 8:06:37 AM PDT by FreePaul
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To: null and void
Those two pipes were sticking up out of the top flange of the BOP after they removed the busted RISER pipe. (Yesterday evening.) They then lowered a large tool which cut them out.

So it wasn't just in the RISER TUBE that this occurred, but continues in through the BOP and down into the wellpipe.

12 posted on 07/12/2010 8:19:25 AM PDT by UCANSEE2 (The Last Boy Scout)
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To: Natural Born 54
The oil is coming to the surface on the back side of the 9-5/8 casing. This has been known from the beginning. The 9-5/8 casing is not open to the formation and thus the oil did flow around the backside to the surface where due to the tremendous pressure it was in all probability lifted into the BOP stack which caused the total failure of the BOP stack.

Relative to the kill operation this will make it more complex but it can be done. They will have to kill the outside flow around the casing. If the 9-5/8 is still intact down hole the well will then be dead. If it is not intact they will then need to do a second kill operation to stop the flow that would be coming into the 9-5/8.

The kill wells will be drilled into the oil pay zone. They will then breakdown the formation by pumping seawater down hole under many thousands of pounds of pressure. Once good communication is established they will follow with kill mud and then a huge cement job. This will have to be done once if the 9-5/8 is intact. Otherwise it will be done twice, once on the outside and once on the inside.

13 posted on 07/12/2010 8:24:05 AM PDT by cpdiii (Deckhand, Roughneck, Geologist, Pilot, Pharmacist, Iconoclast: THE CONSTITUTION IS WORTH DYING FOR.)
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To: pingman
Not good. There has been a lot of knowledgeable talk about eroded and undermined strata due to the failed casing, which appears to be from the lower reaches of the well (ie: small diameter)which would render hopes of a relief well being effective to practically nil.

Not really. See my post 54 on this thread.

14 posted on 07/12/2010 8:28:12 AM PDT by cpdiii (Deckhand, Roughneck, Geologist, Pilot, Pharmacist, Iconoclast: THE CONSTITUTION IS WORTH DYING FOR.)
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To: null and void

Heard a similar proposal back in The Day from a Gunny, but we both decided that even if shooting a few of them would cut casualties, raise morale and REALLY make us feel good, the paperwork and chickensh** afterward would be prohibitive.


15 posted on 07/12/2010 8:28:37 AM PDT by Unrepentant VN Vet (922 and a wakeup)
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To: cpdiii

Correction, SEE MY POST 13.


16 posted on 07/12/2010 8:29:49 AM PDT by cpdiii (Deckhand, Roughneck, Geologist, Pilot, Pharmacist, Iconoclast: THE CONSTITUTION IS WORTH DYING FOR.)
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To: null and void

What if that second pipe did come up from below - does that mean that the capping of the well may not stop oil leaking out into surrounding layers down deep and then up into the sea bed? Could they successfully cap it, it stops leaking from the well head but leaks where nobody is looking? Then there are the predictions of an explosion occurring if the well is capped because it increases the pressure down below.

I like the idea of using the BPers as plugs btw.


17 posted on 07/12/2010 8:31:48 AM PDT by Natural Born 54 (FUBO x 10)
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To: cpdiii

OK. NOW the reference makes sense!


18 posted on 07/12/2010 8:31:55 AM PDT by null and void (We are now in day 534 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
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To: Natural Born 54

Daddy, did you plug the hole yet?


19 posted on 07/12/2010 8:34:52 AM PDT by null and void (We are now in day 534 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
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To: null and void
Who knows what we are watching? It might just be a bunch of miniatures in an aquarium for all we know! ;-)
20 posted on 07/12/2010 8:37:54 AM PDT by almost done by half
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