The runaway well spewing crude into the Gulf of Mexico might be sealed within as little as two weeks

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: Houston Chronicle

The runaway well spewing crude into the Gulf of Mexico might be sealed within as little as two weeks using a new, untested approach that has emerged in the last two days, BP CEO Tony Hayward told the Houston Chronicle today.

The method, which he called “top kill,” involves reconfiguring existing wellhead equipment to provide a conduit for pumping heavy fluids into the well. That would stop the flow and allow for a permanent seal, Hayward said during a visit to the BP operations center in west Houston that is headquarters for the spill response.

In an odd twist, the possible fix would use the blowout preventer that may have failed April 20 when a sudden burst of high-pressure hydrocarbons apparently blew out from the well and up to the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, triggering a fire and explosion that killed 11 workers. The method has been used before to seal wells after blowouts on land, but has not been tried at the depths of the Macondo well on which the Deepwater Horizon was working.

The wellhead is under 5,000 feet of water and taps a reservoir 18,000 feet below the seabed.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/6991278.html

[Critters2]

1. "As little"?!

Oh, yeah. There's good news.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

3. Beats the hell outta 3 months.

Yesterday would've been better, but sooner beats later anytime.

[breadandwine]

12. The unspoken point is that if these efforts fail the plants of the oceans are poisoned

and all animal life on the surface of the planet suffocates from a reduction in atmospheric oxygen.

THAT'S why any fix even in weeks is such a relief.

Because the situation is much worse than BP is admitting.



Science fiction becoming science fact ---


•••••• Video - BP's "Crack In The World" - from 1965 movie to real life nightmare ••••••


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8269354&mesg_id=8269354

[Warpy]

2. Well, they certainly did find oil down there.

the coffer dam should be in place on Thursday. Lowering it down through 5000 feet of water against the pressure of a blowout is the tricky part.

If it works (and we all hope it does), that gusher will be capped within another week from Thursday.

[Richard D]

4. Why of why ,. ., .

. . . does the word "untested" make me cringe.

[BrklynLiberal]

7. I am with you..big time!!!!

[Frank Cannon]

23. What could possibly go wrong?

:sarcasm:

[ShortnFiery]

5. Only TWO (2) days ago - the world's experts claimed it will take AT LEAST three months ...

to stop the oil spill?!?

http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/05/03/allen-at-least-90-days-to-stop-oil-spill/

It will take at least three months to effectively stop the flow of oil rushing through a damaged well that is leaking oil into the Gulf of Mexico, Admiral Thad Allen, Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, and now National Incident Commander of the Gulf Coast oil spill said Monday morning.


What has happened in TWO DAYS to change that prediction?

[ShortnFiery]

8. More ...

Allen says the three-month window is the best case scenario for drilling a new well into the reservoir of oil that’s 23,000 feet below the water’s surface. He says that is the only way to stop the flow of oil at the source.

IMO, the powers that be must believe that American People are either stupid or forgetful?

[daleo]

9. Maybe the well is losing pressure on its own

And they want to take the credit for it. Oil doesn't flow from a reservoir on its own forever, especially from a single exploration hole.

Just a conspiratorial suspicion.

[rudy23]

25. PR happened. n/t

[BrklynLiberal]

6. April 20 til May 19. 29 days @ up to 1,000,000 gallons per day...

So the cleanup may "only be as little as" 29,000,000 gallons of oil spill....

Exxon Valdez spilled 10,800,000 gallons of oil...

So we might as well just not worry....it will only be twice as bad.

:sarcasm:

in case it was not obvious

[B2G]

14. Where have you seem the million gallon per day estimate?

Everything I've seen is more like 200,000. TIA.

[BrklynLiberal]

16. ....

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/04/deepwater_horizon_secret_memo.html
In scientific circles, an order of magnitude means something is 10 times larger. In this case, an order of magnitude higher would mean the volume of oil coming from the well could be 10 times higher than the 5,000 barrels a day coming out now. That would mean 50,000 barrels a day, or 2.1 million gallons a day. It appears the new leaks mentioned in the Wednesday release are the leaks reported to the public late Wednesday night.

http://newsone.com/nation/associated-press/bp-caps-1-of-3-leaks-but-up-to-2-5-million-gallons-of-oil-per-day-may-keep-spilling/
BP Caps 1 Of 3 Leaks, But Up To 2.5 Million Gallons Of Oil Per Day May Keep Spilling
View Photos
In their worst-case scenario, BP executives told members of a congressional committee that up to 2.5 million gallons a day could spill if the leaks worsened, though it would be more like 1.7 million gallons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_drilling_rig_explosion
The oil spill covers a surface area of at least 2,500 square miles (6,500 km2) according to estimates reported on May 3, 2010 by CNBC.<3> The oil spill, originating from a deepwater oil well 5,000 feet (1,500 m) below sea level, is currently discharging an estimated 5–25 thousand barrels (210,000–1,100,000 US gallons; 790,000–4,000,000 litres) of crude oil daily.<6> The spill is expected to eclipse the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill as the worst US oil disaster in history.<7> Experts fear that it will result in an environmental disaster as the oil from the well site reaches the Gulf coast, damaging the Gulf of Mexico fishing industry, tourism industry, and habitat of hundreds of bird species

[jus_the_facts]

21. It's worse than that even....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4369374

[PfcHammer]

10. I saw some crude oil come up my commode this morning while doing

#2. Imma be okay? Do I have standing?

[Magleetis]

11. The sooner the better

I vote for April 21, 2010.

[FLPanhandle]

13. I'll believe when it happens, but I hope they are right

Been watching the beaches lately and keeping my fingers crossed.

[ipaint]

15. BP CEO's are incapable of telling the truth. nt

[thereismore]

17. Do you guys realize that this plan ASSUMES that the funnel dome approach will fail? nt

[Karenina]

18. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

European press is reporting that the geyser is 10X LARGER than previously stated.

[Arctic Dave]

19. Sounds like they are going to cut off the top of the drill pipe. n/t

[aquart]

20. Why then, that's the same as causing no harm at all!

I am so unimpressed by the BP response.

[jus_the_facts]

22. This flies in the face of what they told CONGRESS earlier today... WTF?

.....the lies from BP continue to fly...hour by hour...day by day. :wtf:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4369374

[JDPriestly]

24. This sounds like a possibility, provided that the rig doesn't just spring

more leaks due to the pressure from the heavy liquid that is to be added. I guess they will have to calculate very carefully just how much of the heavy fluid is needed.

Is this the only rig on the particular oil reservoir in question. If not, could the additional fluid cause a different rig to blow?

The assumption that BP appears to be working on is that the cause really was equipment that did not function correctly and not maybe an increase in pressure from under the rig for some reason. I'm a total know-nothing when it comes to physics. Is my opinion completely unrelated to reality?

[uppityperson]

26. "could" "might" are weasel words meaning "not news". Here's another DU LBN link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4369374&mesg_id=4369374

Amount of Spill Could Escalate, Company Admits


WASHINGTON — In a closed-door briefing for members of Congress, a senior BP executive conceded Tuesday that the ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico could conceivably spill as much as 60,000 barrels a day of oil, more than 10 times the estimate of the current flow....