BP: 48 hours before clear if mud stops oil leak

[cal04]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_gulf_oil_spill

The chief executive of BP PLC says it will be about 48 hours before they know if pumping heavy mud into a blown-out well is successful in stopping the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

CEO Tony Hayward said on the CBS "Early Show" that his confidence level in the well-plugging bid remains at about 60 to 70 percent.

BP, the largest oil and gas producer in the United States, began injecting mud into the well on Wednesday afternoon in an untested bid to end a spill that has surpassed the Exxon Valdez disaster since it started after an oil rig explosion April 20 that killed 11 workers.

The maneuver, called a top kill, has worked on land but never been tried in deep water.

[Hubert Flottz]

1. If BP only had a drunk to blame this on...

Where's Joseph Hazelwood when they need him?

[Altoid_Cyclist]

2. The BP talking heads at the helm are drunk with power.

It's not quite the same, but it's close enough for me.

People in charge at BP, Transocean and/or Halliburton better be prosecuted for the deaths, the environmental disaster which will last for decades possibly and the loss of income for all of the Gulf residents.

I'm not going to be content if they are merely fined or a few people are forced to resign (with a golden parachute).

[Hubert Flottz]

4. "better be prosecuted"

I thought the same thing when it came to light that Bush and his henchmen had made up lies and started a war and then tortured unarmed prisoners, but the crimes were forgiven and forgotten.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

9. That was what I was thinking while I was typing also.

I was going to add that I doubt that anyone will actually be prosecuted but right now all we can do is hope.

It's a tenuous grip on hope, but.......

[spanone]

3. how many 48 hour periods before they admit it ain't gonna work?

[Tansy_Gold]

5. It's probably 48 business hours. . . . . n/t

[spanone]

6. yep, they probably have the holiday weekend off. they don't count those hours.

[HughMoran]

10. they may be making incremental gains against the massive oil pressure

It's difficult to know until the backpressure starts reducing significantly. Obviously if the pressure isn't reducing, they are making no headway, but they claimed after the first try that the pressure was reduced significantly. Knowing that only engineers would know why this was significant gives me a small amount of hope that they are not lying.

[KharmaTrain]

7. They'll Keep Tap Dancing...

...cause they can. For all the "experts" who think they have a solution, we're seeing this disaster is "beyond Petroleum". BP has to keep saying their doing something...no matter how off the wall the idea is cause this is what the public and government are expecting.

The list of criminal and negligent acts in this tragedy are long...especially in the early days of this disaster...and ever since it's been literally "treading water" as the outrage and damage builds. Overall, it's a nightmare for BP...and, yes, I'm not shedding a tear for them, but its affecting the way they are trying to "manage" this situation and cover their asses.

Hontesly, what else can Hayward say right now other than "we're trying". In many ways he's in his own "slick"...as investigations are already underway about negligence on behalf of BP and others in taking short cuts and ignoring lax and watered down regulation. I honestly expect Hayward to be a scapegoat once things start "clearing" (if such a thing is possible) from his stockholders who see this as a financial and PR disaster. BP stock has tanked...it's his bacon on the line for that. No wonder he looks lately like he's been hit by an oil truck.

[Junkdrawer]

8. Translation: "Top Kill put our stock up 7 points. Please don't crash it...

before the Memorial Day Holiday!"