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BP Oil Spill Surpasses Exxon Valdez

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Submitted by Austin

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Someone better check out the safety of oil industries, production and transport in the Caribbean region: before it’s too late.

Today many news outlets are covering the success of the US space program with focus on the shuttle. Ironically I find it absolutely amazing that we can fly too and from outer space, yet we can’t plug a hole in de ground (noting the oil spill off the US coast).

Just for one minute imagine how we in the Caribbean region would be impacted if a similar thing occurred off our shores.  Our tourism and fishing industries would be crippled if not destroyed, not to mention the money we don’t have for clean up efforts.
As a region we better check out any coast line oil production and transport, noting how close in proximity many Caribbean nations are relatively speaking.

With all BP’s record profits in recent years clearly not enough was put into ensuring safe and environmentally friendly innovation and research. BP has become to the environment what firms like Goldman Sachs was to the financial crisis,  “Too big to fail” has been extended to “Too rich to be held accountable”.

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147 responses to “BP Oil Spill Surpasses Exxon Valdez”

  1. ac Avatar
    ac

    For years the anti enviromental lobbyist with backing by the Republicans have fought against tough enviromental laws. Also the agencies who are to regulate the oil industry looked the other way. What about them. I guess when this mess if and when it is over there is going to be alot of people to blame .Aren’t they inspectors who inspect theseoil rigs periodically? and howcould they not see this problem in the making?. Now it easy to blame Obama.

  2. Terence M. Blackett Avatar
    Terence M. Blackett

    OFF MESSAGE>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

    Just in a few minutes ago>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

    Israelis COMMANDOS stormed a ship carrying much needed AID* for impoverished Palestinians killing 10…

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/10195838.stm

  3. Atman Avatar
    Atman

    @Terence Blackett

    Israel is nuke-armed rogue state with absolutely no respect for international law. This is where I place some blame on the Obama Administration for upholding that same policy of an “unbreakable relationship” with Israel, and unwavering commitment to Israel’s security. Then everybody wants to know why America is the target of terrorists and extremists as they are referred to.

  4. Curious Cat. Avatar
    Curious Cat.

    http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message1075083/pg1

  5. Jay Avatar
    Jay

    Greetings chatters and one instigator:

    On tourism: We live inland in Texas. Though Padre is not affected, we booked our vacation this summer in Grand Cayman. We were looking at Watercolour Beach in the Florida panhandle, but after the oil started gushing, ruled that out. The east coast of Florida is already seeing a booking boom while the west side is down. Dollars will shift away from the Gulf this summer, no doubt. Smart tourism operators will be ready.

    On Palin: If we were drilling in Anwar instead of deep underwater, this type of accident would be easily stopped and the ecological ramifications would be nowhere near as disastrous.

    On Obama: He looks more inept every day. Bush federalized the Exxon Valdez cleanup after 14 days and was roundly criticized by the Dems back then as “too slow to act.” He probably thinks he can sue BP for more money the worse it gets and blame “big oil” for all of the consequences, but with coastal states begging for federal supplies, aid and manpower, it looks more and more like the feds just don’t know how to handle the situation. They didn’t case it, but they didn’t stop it and they’re not doing much to lessen the impact. Every authority figure stands to suffer for standing by and not doing enough.

    On the news: Best photo cutline so far, “Obama Shows Tar Balls on Louisiana Beach.”

  6. Jay Avatar
    Jay

    Typo correction, if an admin can fix it: In the “On Obama” section, “They didn’t case it,” should be “cause.” Thanks!

  7. ac Avatar
    ac

    Hurricane season is upon us.August is the month that Katrina devastated Lousianna,
    BP better get its act together before August.

  8. Micro Mock Engineer Avatar
    Micro Mock Engineer

    @BT,

    I agree with you that it is “complete nonsense” for BP not to have had contingencies in place, but that is behind us… we were discussing the immediate problem at hand i.e. stopping the leak… that has the be the priority right now. I disagree with your classification of the “top kill” method as complete nonsense… nonetheless, it failed and they are going back to a containment option.

    Your recommended solution of fitting a second BOP has been one of the options identified by BP from the beginning… they have referred to it as the “hot stab” option. I agree with you that on the surface, this would seem to be “The only sane way to seal a high pressure system while under flow” as you put it… but let us think this through for a minute and see if we can rationalise why they may not have shared your confidence…

    (a) The pressure rating of the existing BOP is 15,000 psi.
    (b) The BOP appears to have failed under the blowout pressure, and may have been structurally compromised… in other words, it is difficult to ascertain what pressure it could now withstand.
    (c) Based on my ‘back-of-envelope’ calculation, the net pressure at the wellhead (difference between oil/gas pressure and seawater pressure) is between 5,000 psi and 9,000 psi… the higher end of the range assumes a higher percentage of gas in the oil/gas mix.

    The question then becomes, when you fit the upper BOP and close it, how will the compromised lower BOP respond to the pressure?

    Sometimes the ‘sane’ solution carries risks that go unnoticed to the untrained eye 🙂

  9. Micro Mock Engineer Avatar
    Micro Mock Engineer

    … by the way, BP has indicated that it will try the second BOP if the other lower risk options fail. The second BOP has been on the seabed for quite sometime in preparation for deployment if required.

  10. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    BREAKING NEWS!!

    A man was driving down the road and ran out of gas. Just at that moment, a bee flew in his window.

    The bee said, ‘What seems to be the problem?’

    ‘I’m out of gas,’ the man replied.

    The bee told the man to wait right there and flew away. Minutes later, the man watched as an entire swarm of bees flew to his car and into his gas tank. After a few minutes, the bees flew out.

    ‘Try it now,’ said one bee.

    The man turned the ignition key and the car started right up. ‘Wow!’ the man exclaimed, ‘what did you put in my gas tank’?

    The bee answered,

    BEE PEE! (BP)

    I gone ya hear?

  11. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ MME

    Your comments are noted, but you appear to be, like BP a little out of your depth here my son…….

    I am not sure what size envelope you would have used in your ‘back of envelope’ calculations ….. you sure you did not use tissue? of the toilet variety…? LOL

    Bush men usually try to avoid being too technical, but at a flow rate of 12000-19000 barrels per day exiting a 18 inch diameter pipe, do you have any idea of what force it will take to effectively decelerate the mass of oil in that riser coming up to the BOP to standstill?
    What BOP compromised by the explosion what??!!
    the valve mechanism failed, but this does not affect the structural integrity of the basic metal shell.

    Have you ever tried to seal a half-inch water pipe under flow?

    ….trust me MME, you either turn the flow off, or install a valve in the OPEN position, ensure a proper fit, and then gradually decelerate the flow by slowly closing the new valve.

    I will be pleasantly surprised if this ‘cut an cap’ crap works for the above reason.

    With reference to the top kill – Of course it was nonsense! it had NO chance of working whatsoever. It was just gobbledygook from the very start.

    Since you asked, Bush Tea can offer a ‘top kill’ solution which would work – but which would NOT interest BP for obvious reasons.

    First, instead of cutting off that riser pipe, the robots should have drilled several large drill-bits all the way through a small section of the pipe at various angles and left them in place.
    The ‘junk shot’ of shredded tyres etc should then have been injected under pressure into the BOP and subsequently allowed to be forced by the oil out the riser pipe to be blocked by the drill bits.

    Any o’level student can see how this would have closed off the oil flow.

    ….but as you can see, BP is not interested in any solution that does not involve continued pumping….

  12. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    …..amazing how I can never seem to find MME when the bushman wants to brag about being right -again….

    …so now BP comes along and plugs a cork into the leaking oil well, with a little straw out the top…. and manages to extract 10% of the oil leaking into the gulf, and we are told it is a ‘partial success’….

    So next time Waterworks have a burst main in Bridgetown they can come along and put a big rock on top of the leak after sticking a garden hose into the hole to capture some of the leaking water…… Well I never!!

    So MME, what happened to simply pinching the pipe close with a hydraulic crimp – like the one they used to cut through the same pipe? ..can’t believe that you support these engineering novices….

    …..either these BP people are total and complete imbeciles, or they are some of bin laden’s top Al-qaida boys….

  13. David Avatar
    David

    @Bush Tea

    There is the conspiracy theory to consider.

    It is the right-wing Republican Boston Tea Party element at work to assure a defeat for Obama…lol.

  14. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    David
    No one is conspiring to defeat Obama.

    He is doing a very very good job on his own.

  15. Not Saved Avatar
    Not Saved

    “So MME, what happened to simply pinching the pipe close with a hydraulic crimp ”

    That would surely depend on the whether the pipe material is sufficiently ductile,
    no?

    And the existence of such a crimping tool.

  16. Not Saved Avatar
    Not Saved

    “….but as you can see, BP is not interested in any solution that does not involve continued pumping….”

    Care to elaborate?

  17. David Avatar
    David

    As if Jamaica needed more grieve the media is reporting that the coastline of Jamaica and the Bahamas could be affected by this disaster inflicted on us by BP.

  18. Micro Mock Engineer Avatar
    Micro Mock Engineer

    BT,

    Wait… you drinking that bush or smoking it? What exactly are you bragging about? You prefer the option with the highest risk… that’s why it hasn’t been tried yet… it was on the cards from the beginning. Hold your horses… if all else fails, the second BOP may be tried. By the way, you do realize that the BOP is a big crimping device, right? Also, did you notice how close to the existing BOP the damaged riser had buckled? To me, it doesn’t look like there is enough pipe available for fitting a second BOP or crimping… but I’m sure you and BP know something that I’ve overlooked.

    I don’t think you fully appreciate the pressures and risks involved here… hence the frequent water authority and garden hose analogies you keep drawing LOL… the integrity of the BOP (and the wellhead for that matter) have to be a major concern right now, and if these fail there is no ‘do-over’.

    The ‘top hat’ now in place above the BOP is designed with vents which allow BP to regulate the flow rate in the drill pipe carrying oil and gas back up to the ship for separation, oil storage and gas flaring. This is important, as there are limitations on the flows and pressures that the ship can handle. The oil/gas mix leaving the well is variable, resulting in variable flows and pressures experienced at the ship… higher proportions of gas in the drill pipe will result in higher flows and pressures at the ship. Here are animation and video clips of the procedure that may be helpful:

    http://bp.concerts.com/gom/lmrp6_060310.htm
    http://bp.concerts.com/gom/successful_install_lmrp_cap_060510.htm

    Over the first 24 hours, the top hat vents were regulated to allow for 30% capture of the leaking oil and gas. The process from here involves continued regulation and monitoring of the vents and pressures to optimize flow in the drill pipe. How much higher will they get the capture rates? Your guess is as good as mine… actually I retract that… my guess is probably better LOL

  19. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ MME
    “Your guess is as good as mine… actually I retract that… my guess is probably better LOL”
    **********************************************************************************************
    No it isn’t, but that will come out in the wash….

    I refer to garden hose pressures to illustrate the point that if one can appreciate the challenges of the techniques being applied by BP even in a garden hose scenario – surely it is lame to expect it to work in this nightmare scenario…… “top kill” indeed!!

    Man MME, I am a bit surprised at your gullibility. …. but then again you still feel that the three buildings in 911 fell as a result of the two planes…..right???!! LOL

    @ NS
    Crimping is standard practice. As MME says, this is how the BOP actually works.

    There IS in existence a crimping tool, and it HAS been done before. In fact, the tool used to cut the riser need only have a crimping rather than a cutting bit installed to do the job. Furthermore, there is no need for any extended length of riser to successfully crimp it close as MME suggest.

    Even if the crimp was not 100% closed, THEN a ‘junk shot’ would finish the closure.

    ……But these options result in no more oil from this particular well……

  20. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ MME
    Surely you can clearly discern from your clip that the issue being addressed is not how to prevent leakage of oil into the gulf, but how to maximize flow of oil inter the Enterprise.

    In fact, the idiot commentator is so bold as to explain that they “must allow” some of the oil to escape below the cap in order to maintain a net positive pressure which ‘prevents sea water from entering’ and causing blockage of the flow of recovered oil.

    Our world is being run by fools. Who in their right mind would allow a criminal to exercise full control of the process of arresting, cleaning up and reversing the impact of their own criminal deeds?

    The fundamental problem here is that BP is more focused on their bottom line than on any environmental concerns.

    When the oil slick begins to overtake the beaches of Miami this will become clearer to everyone.

  21. Not Saved Avatar
    Not Saved

    “……But these options result in no more oil from this particular well……”

    Care to explain?

    BP now claimed today that the containment cap is recovering 10,000 barrels a day or the “majority” of the oil.

  22. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @NS

    What is to explain…?

    I thought the BP said the spill was 5000 barrels per day? If the cap is recovering 10,000 barrels per day how is that now a ‘majority’? You actually BELIEVE anything they say…?
    BTW, MME said that the recovery was about 30% -probably a different BP source…. LOL

    I can’t believe two brilliant minds like you and MME fall for such propaganda nonsense.

    Here are a bunch of incompetent morons who burst a hole in the earth in search of crude oil and gas UNDER HIGH PRESSURE. They take some risky, money-grabbing, shortcut approach which results in the death of 11 men, millions of wild life and likely, thousands of livelihoods…..

    …now ‘intelligent leaders’ have allowed the same criminals to be in charge of the cleanup and recovery- and we actually LISTEN to their PR excuses. The way BT sees it, their continued leaking of oil into the gulf has ‘brought’ them over a month of time to clean up their crime scene.
    Had they capped the flow, the FBI and other hounds would have been all over their records by now and probably had a few persons in custody.

    I can’t figure out what you would like explained NS….? that BP’s only overriding interests in this matter are (1) – protecting their behinds and (2) maximizing the oil recovery ($$$) from their well.
    …anything else is a distraction.

  23. Not Saved Avatar
    Not Saved

    @BT

    “What is to explain…?”

    I want you to explain the following comment:

    “……But these options result in no more oil from this particular well……”

    How do these “options” [ the ones you prefer/recommend] stop the well from producing oil ever again?

    PS. The “10,000 per day” is the just the latest update.

  24. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ NS

    My emphasis is on closing down the well urgently to prevent further leakage of oil into the environment.
    If and when this is done, you can rest assured (and BP knows) that the EPA, Homeland Security, White House and even spider man will be down on the oil company’s back like white on rice….
    …from BP’s perspective, the dog will be dead…… not to mention the clean up bills – BP will be history.

    BP’s solution to this dilemma is simple:

    DO NOT CLOSE THE WELL AT ANY COST.

    They therefore refuse to contemplate any ‘solution’ that does not ‘REQUIRE’ their continued extraction of oil from the well.

    Note that EVERY option that they seriously explored involved them having to continue producing oil from the well (Except for the ‘top Kill’ Joke which any third form science student could see was nonsense)

    MME actually buys their crap that the “BOP on bop” solution is ‘too risky’ LOL.
    Like hell it is!!……. it risks closing down BP.

    comprende?

    ….rotfl – I just love conspiracy theories!!

  25. Not Saved Avatar
    Not Saved

    BT………

    “Note that EVERY option that they seriously explored involved them having to continue producing oil from the well…………

    ………… (Except for the ‘top Kill’ …………”

    LOL

  26. Not Saved Avatar
    Not Saved

    “Had they capped the flow, the FBI and other hounds would have been all over their records by now and probably had a few persons in custody.”

    Can you explain why it is necessary to cap the flow for the “FBI and other hounds” to investigate?

  27. Not Saved Avatar
    Not Saved

    “(Except for the ‘top Kill’ Joke which any third form science student could see was nonsense)”

    You do know that “top kill” is a “standard practice”?

    You seem to direct all of your ire against BP. None for Transocean?

  28. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    …You serious NS? Ya nah see’t?

    Not a man dares to take responsibility for that mess while the leak is active. You hear Obama? ….he refers to it as BP’s mess…..’ Never mind what will happen to the US coast.

    Would YOU be man enough to take over responsibility for that problem while the leak is ongoing?

    I think not……LOL

    Now if it was deemed safe……. and no testes are required….then all the boys and girls can jump right in…..

    …if you keep asking for explanations to such obvious issues, Bush Tea will have to consider downgrading you from MME’s AAA+ classification level yuh…. especially since you shaky with the evolution thing already….LOL

  29. Not Saved Avatar
    Not Saved

    “They [BP] therefore refuse to contemplate any ‘solution’ that does not ‘REQUIRE’ their continued extraction of oil from the well.”

    But BT, I do think the well was a producer at the time of the explosion.

    Being an experienced “googler” like MME, I found this little detail on the web……….

    “At the time of the explosion the rig was drilling an exploratory well.[11] The planned well was to be drilled to 18,000 feet (5,500 m) below sea level, and was to be plugged and suspended for subsequent completion as a subsea producer.[10] Production casing was being run and cemented at the time of the accident. Once the cementing was complete, it was due to be tested for integrity and a cement plug set to temporarily abandon the well for later completion as a subsea producer.[12]”

  30. Not Saved Avatar
    Not Saved

    That should have been “I do NOT think the well was a producer….”

  31. Not Saved Avatar
    Not Saved

    AAA+ !!

    Such flattery !

    LOL

  32. Not Saved Avatar
    Not Saved

    “Not a man dares to take responsibility for that mess while the leak is active. ”

    I do not that is a fair comment.

    Is this report false?

    “It wasn’t our accident, but we are absolutely responsible for the oil, for cleaning it up, and that’s what we intend to do,” BP Group CEO Tony Hayward told NBC’s “TODAY” show.

    BP dodging blame for the cause but they seem not to be dodging “responsibility for the mess”

  33. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    My Bad, NS!!

    I should have said “not a boy from another entity would dare to take responsibility….”

    What would you expect BP to say?

    Besides that is exactly my point. THEY need to remain in control – for the long term viability of BP, as well as to clean up the evidence so that people like Hayward can stay out of Jail.

  34. David Avatar
    David

    Update!

    @BT

    BP is a dead company after this matter is done.

    BP Increased Oil-Capture Rate to 10,500 Barrels a Day (Update2)
    Share Business ExchangeTwitterFacebook| Email | Print | A A A
    By Edward Klump

    June 6 (Bloomberg) — BP Plc said it increased the amount of oil being captured from its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico to 10,500 barrels a day from 6,077 barrels in the previous 24-hour period ending at midnight June 4.

    The well is estimated by government scientists to be gushing 12,000 to 19,000 barrels a day into the Gulf. The spill is the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

    A “cap” over the well is capturing “probably the vast majority” of the leaking oil, Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward told the Broadcasting Corp. today in a live interview in London. BP has “a further containment system to implement this week,” he said, adding that a permanent and hurricane-proof mechanism will be in place by the end of the month.

    U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said yesterday in a news conference that four vents on the cap remained open, allowing oil to flow through the cap and into the ocean. BP will try to close the vents when pressure is stabilized, Allen said. On June 4, Allen said BP was recovering oil at the rate of about 1,000 barrels a day. BP said yesterday that it collected 6,077 barrels of crude in the 24-hour period of June 4.

    “They are making adjustments to the systems and making sure they don’t increase the production rate until it’s safe to do so,” Allen said.

    Improvement Expected

    After the cap was put in place the night of June 3, gas reached a surface ship at about 11 p.m. local time, and oil was being piped to the ship about 10 minutes later, BP said yesterday on its website.

    “Improvement in oil collection is expected over the next several days,” the London-based company said yesterday on its website.

    The system can capture as much as 15,000 barrels a day, and BP will push toward that limit, Allen said.

    “I’d like to see us capture 90-plus percent of this flow,” Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer for exploration and production, said June 4 on CBS’s “Early Show.” “That’s possible with this design.”

    The shears used to prepare the well for the cap created a cut that was more jagged than had been hoped for, so there is isn’t a perfect seal between the cap and the well, Allen said. The company won’t know how bad the leakage is until it is capturing more oil, he said.

    History Lesson

    “History has taught us here to be cautiously optimistic, not overly optimistic,” Dan Pickering, an analyst at investment bank Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. in Houston, said yesterday. He said capturing 90 percent of the flow would be a “huge home run.”

    The spill, which has cost BP more than $1 billion, has soiled about 140 miles of shoreline in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, along with some 80 miles in Florida, the Coast Guard said yesterday.

    Gulf winds are moving the oil now in the water closer to the coasts of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, Allen said. He said oil in tar balls and patties is affecting areas from western Mississippi to Pensacola, Florida.

    The well began gushing oil after the Deepwater Horizon rig BP leased from Transocean Ltd. exploded on April 20 and sank two days later, resulting in the deaths of 11 workers. The leak is 40 miles (64 kilometers) off Louisiana’s coast under about 5,000 feet of water.

    Obama, Hayward

    President Barack Obama said communities along the Gulf Coast suffering because of the oil spill will be “made whole” with payments from BP and government aid. In his weekly address on the radio and Internet, which was taped June 4 in Grand Isle, Louisiana, Obama said livelihoods that have spanned generations are in danger of being lost.

    BP’s Hayward told the BBC he hadn’t spoken directly to Obama since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded.

    “There is no need for that,” Hayward said. “I have spoken to his key lieutenants.” BP and the Obama administration are working “hand-in-hand” to resolve the spill, Hayward said.

    The company has paid about half of the 35,000 claims submitted by Gulf residents and companies for income lost because of the spill, Darryl Willis, vice president of resources at BP America, said yesterday on a conference call. BP is awaiting documentation for the other claims, he said. Willis said the company’s claims spending through June may top $84 million.

    ‘First Call’

    Hayward told investors June 4 on a conference call the spill has the “first call” on the company’s funds and financial consequences of the spill will be “severe.”

    Allen said relief-well operations to stop the leak will involve pumping mud to reduce pressure and placing a cement plug. He said this effort will be the “bottom kill exercise.” Allen said the “worst case” he sees is that a discharge continues until relief wells are completed in August.

    “In the long term, the threat from this well will not go away until the relief well has been drilled, pressure has been taken off and the well has been plugged,” Allen said. “In the meantime, we need to optimize our containment efforts.”

    To contact the reporter on this story: Edward Klump in Houston at eklump@bloomberg.net.

    Last Updated: June 6, 2010 10:34 EDT

  35. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Exactly my point David!

    So that means that Hayward and his crew are walking deads right?

    Do you think that THEY may have figured that out too!!!!

    …and meanwhile, they are in charge of the current operation …. how reassuring!

    Surely, they will have all of our best interest at heart. At least that is what MME is telling the bush man lol

  36. Christopher Halsall Avatar
    Christopher Halsall

    @All…

    Do the math…

    If BT have increased the capture rate to 10,500 barrels a day, and yet there is still a leak, would this not suggest there has always been more than 10,500 barrels a day being leaked in the past?

  37. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ Chris
    First it is BP that have increased the capture rate … not BT!

    Second, your brilliant conclusion was meant to be taken as obvious.

    Third, you sure you want to tackle those triple A+ boys MME and NS…?

  38. Christopher Halsall Avatar
    Christopher Halsall

    @Bush Tea…

    I stand corrected, and am wetting myself….

  39. Micro Mock Engineer Avatar
    Micro Mock Engineer

    “Surely, they will have all of our best interest at heart. At least that is what MME is telling the bush man”

    Man BT… I don’t know where to start with you. I never said BP had your best interest at heart… I said that I agree with the their current course of action to contain the leak… in fact, several weeks ago, I told you that containment until a relief well is completed was my preferred approach. I did not share their optimism about the top kill attempt, but unlike you I don’t think it was a ploy to buy time. That is completely irrational, as they had nothing to gain and much to lose… it did not stop the US Government from launching a criminal investigation, the lost time increased the environmental damage they are ultimately responsible for, and, like every successive failure, it further damaged their share value.
    …………….

    “But these options result in no more oil from this particular well”

    LOL… it is ok to love conspiracy theories or to hate BP, but there is no need to be irrational. A relief well is the only permanent fix and will be constructed whether the compromised well is contained or plugged. As already pointed out, the lost time has only made matters worse for BP and its executives. Looking at it from an economic standpoint, your conclusion also belies logic. It would be more cost effective for BP to plug the well eliminating all spillage until the relief wells are completed, than to try to capture oil in the interim. But, it doesn’t seem like you are building your conspiracy theory on economic grounds, so I won’t worry with breaking down the economics of containment versus a second BOP… suffice it to say the latter, if successful, would be more cost effective… however the risks and consequences of failure are more severe.

  40. Micro Mock Engineer Avatar
    Micro Mock Engineer

    @CH,

    The flow rate technical group established by the US Government and led by the head of the US Geological Survey, revised the spill estimate on May 27… they gave a range of 12 to 19,000 barrels per day based on the results of three separate models (mass balance model, plume model and riser insertion tube model). That has been the official estimate used since then.

  41. Micro Mock Engineer Avatar
    Micro Mock Engineer

    … it is entirely possible that after cutting the riser the flow rate increased (some have estimated by as much as 20%)… in that case the 10,500 would only represent just around 46%, but as mentioned earlier, the capture rate should improve as they slowly close off the vents on the top hat.

  42. Christopher Halsall Avatar
    Christopher Halsall

    @MME…

    Thanks for that.

    Perhaps you can tell me this…

    Has BP ever given an estimate of the flow rate higher than the Government’s estimate?

  43. David Avatar
    David

    @MME et al

    Politics aside do you believe there is a greater role for the government to play in this exercise?

  44. Micro Mock Engineer Avatar
    Micro Mock Engineer

    “Has BP ever given an estimate of the flow rate higher than the Government’s estimate?”

    No. With the exception of the last estimate, they were all issued in joint BP/Government statements… the first jointly with the Coast Guard, the second jointly with NOAA.

  45. Micro Mock Engineer Avatar
    Micro Mock Engineer

    “Politics aside do you believe there is a greater role for the government to play in this exercise?”
    …………….

    Yes… IMHO a Government selected team drawn from experts across industry (including BP of course) and academia should be leading the effort. This would not absolve BP of their financial responsibilities.

  46. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ Chris
    Touche! …..you are becoming one of bush tea’s favourite family members.

    @ David
    “…do you believe there is a greater role for the government to play in this exercise?”

    This is a brilliant question for MME. For my part, the US Government should have responded to this in the same way they would have mobilized for a terrorist attack or any other major event that put citizens life, livelihoods and well being at risk.

    Instead, they sat back and said essentially “It was not me, it was BP”

    Meanwhile, the likely criminals who are RESPONSIBLE for the ‘attack’ (even if it was just professional carelessness) gets to clean up the crime scene

    @ MME

    You know full well that my conspiracy theory in NOT economic in basis. It is criminal.
    What I said was that by maintaining the ’emergency’ and creating ‘solutions’ that require BP’s continued management of the location, they get to maintain control of the crime scene.

    Had they capped that well, ALL LIKE NOW SO, someone would have been keeping Allan Stanford’s company.
    ….you may not believe that, but trust me….. THEY DO!

    By the time the well is safely under control, no clear evidence will exist to prove negligence on anyone’s part, and indeed, we may actually have a few ‘heroes’ evolving from the great containment success by BP.

  47. Micro Mock Engineer Avatar
    Micro Mock Engineer

    “Had they capped that well, ALL LIKE NOW SO, someone would have been keeping Allan Stanford’s company”

    That is not true, and you know it. A criminal investigation of this incident would not have been completed “ALL LIKE NOW SO”… LOL

    Furthermore, had they capped the well very early on, the spill would never have made landfall and we probably wouldn’t even be discussing it right now.
    ………………….

    “By the time the well is safely under control, no clear evidence will exist to prove negligence on anyone’s part, and indeed, we may actually have a few ‘heroes’ evolving from the great containment success by BP.”

    More incoherence… the criminal investigation has already started… it doesn’t matter what corrective options BP employ or don’t employ now.

  48. David Avatar
    David

    @MME

    Thanks for that response although we are not understanding your point about BP would be absolved of financial responsibility.

    The greater point to be made is to question what culpability can the US government now ascribe to BP if there is a lack of a governance framework to mine in deep waters. Can you advise what policy framework exist.

  49. ac Avatar
    ac

    The finger pointing has been going on for more than a week with a high level government politician wanting to introduce legislation in congress asking that the company who lease the equipment to bp be held respnsible for damages. However the company says the maintaining the equipment is solely the resonsibility of BP. Bp also knew that their was a problem but choose not to have it fixed as was suggseted by one of the inspectors, but however choose to seek the approval of another agency in the delayingof repair.

  50. Micro Mock Engineer Avatar
    Micro Mock Engineer

    My point about BP not being financially absolved, is just to reinforce that there is no good reason for the US Government to have taken such a hands off approach to this. It doesn’t make economic or political sense, and shows extremely poor leadership.

    The second part of your question is a very good one, as the Government has been arguably complicit in the events leading up to the incident, not so much because of the absence of regulation, but due to poor enforcement.

    Case in point, in the Environmental Impact Assessment for this project submitted to the US Minerals Management Service (MMS), the following statement was made by BP and ACCEPTED by MMS:

    “In the event of an unanticipated blowout resulting in an oil spill, it is unlikely to have an impact based on the industry wide standards for using proven equipment and technology for such responses, implementation of BP’s Regional Oil Spill Response Plan which address [sic] available equipment and personnel, techniques for containment and recovery and removal of the oil spill.”

    In short I don’t agree with you regarding the “lack of a framework to mine in deep waters”… the fact that they were required to respond to that specific issue shows that the framework was there (at least as far as this particular risk was concerned)… but the response shows incompetence and/or unethical behaviour on the part of both BP and MMS… the courts will decide whether it was also criminal.

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