The Oil Drum: Should the Oil Flow Restart?, Lloyd's White Paper, and More...

[profgoose]

BP's Deepwater Oil Spill - Should the Oil Flow Restart? - and Open Thread

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6749

Lloyd's Sustainable Energy Security White Paper - Some hits; some misses

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6743

Drumbeat: July 19, 2010

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6750

BP's Deepwater Oil Spill - (Breaking) Anonymous Official Expresses Concern about Seeps and Pressure (Yesterday PM Open Thread)

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6747

[Starry Messenger]

1. k & r

[DCBob]

2. I like this comment..

It's pretty amazing how sealed this well is. Look at the BOP, a ~4,600 PSI differential (6,800 internal vs 2,200 external), and you only have afew microscopic methane bubbles around some joints. Some impressive engineering given the conditions.

And realistically, this whole concept of a "seep" afew football fields from the BOP has to be natural. I believe the reservoir pressure was initially read at ~12,000psi by the Horizon. If you take 6,800psi + 4,500psi (the pressure from the weight of 13,000ft oil in the pipe with specgrav of 0.80), then you really are only short ~500 psi, max.

I can't legitimately expect 500psi being anywhere near enough to push gas and oil thru 1-3 miles of bedrock, let alone 300 yards laterally as well. If there was a weakness, the easiest path for the g&o would be around the casing right under the BOP, which hasn't occured. Bedrock splitting pressure is on the order of volcanic activity, which is on the order of MILLIONS of psi, not thousands.

just an interested engineer's point of view.

- cleanuptime on July 19, 2010 - 11:24am

[Generic Other]

3. I see someone named snakehead has posted a link to DU there

"Landau's an abiotic oil guy with wacky ideas who has found an audience."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...