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BP Official Admits to Damage BENEATH THE SEA FLOOR
As I noted Tuesday, there is growing
evidence that BP's oil well - technically called the "well casing" or
"well bore" - has suffered damage beneath the level of the sea floor.
The
evidence is growing stronger and stronger that there is substantial
damage beneath the sea floor. Indeed, it appears that BP officials
themselves have admitted to such damage. This has enormous impacts on
both the amount of oil leaking into the Gulf, and the prospects for
quickly stopping the leak this summer.
On May 31st, the Washington Post noted:
Sources
at two companies involved with the well said that BP also discovered
new damage inside the well below the seafloor and that, as a result,
some of the drilling mud that was successfully forced into the well was
going off to the side into rock formations.
"We discovered things that were broken in the sub-surface," said a BP official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He said that mud was making it "out to the side, into the formation."
On June 2nd, Bloomberg pointed out:
Plugging
the well is another challenge even after BP successfully intersects it,
Robert Bea, a University of California Berkeley engineering professor,
said. BP has said it believes the well bore to be damaged, which could hamper efforts to fill it with mud and set a concrete plug, Bea said.
Bea is an expert in offshore drilling and a high-level governmental adviser concerning disasters.
On the same day, the Wall Street Journal noted that there might be a leak in BP's well casing 1,000 feet beneath the sea floor:
BP
PLC has concluded that its "top-kill" attempt last week to seal its
broken well in the Gulf of Mexico may have failed due to a
malfunctioning disk inside the well about 1,000 feet below the ocean floor.
***
The
broken disk may have prevented the heavy drilling mud injected into the
well last week from getting far enough down the well to overcome the
pressure from the escaping oil and gas, people familiar with BP's
findings said. They said much of the drilling mud may also have escaped
from the well into the rock formation outside the wellbore.
On June 3rd, The Canadian Press quoted
the top government official in charge of the response to the oil spill
- Admiral Thad Allen, the commandant of the Coast Guard - as pointing
to the same possibility:
The failure of the so-called top kill procedure - which entailed pumping mud into the well at high velocity - suggested "there
actually could be something wrong with the well casing, and there could
be open communication in the strata or the rock formations below the
sea floor," Allen said.
On
June 7th, Senator Bill Nelson told MSNBC that he's investigating
reports of oil seeping up from additional leak points on the seafloor:
Senator
Bill Nelson (D-FL): Andrea we’re looking into something new right now,
that there’s reports of oil that’s seeping up from the seabed… which
would indicate, if that’s true, that the well casing itself is actually
pierced… underneath the seabed. So, you know, the problems could be just enormous with what we’re facing.
Andrea
Mitchell, MSNBC: Now let me understand better what you’re saying. If
that is true that it is coming up form that seabed, even the relief
well won’t be the final solution to cap this thing. That means that
we’ve got oil gushing up at disparate places along the ocean floor.
Sen. Nelson: That is possible, unless you get the plug down low enough, below where the pipe would be breached.
Indeed, loss of integrity in the well itself may explain why BP is drilling its relief wells more than ten thousand feet beneath the leaking pipes on the seafloor (and see this).
Yesterday, recently-retired Shell Oil President John Hofmeister said that the well casing below the sea floor may have been compromised:
[Question]
What are the chances that the well casing below the sea floor has been
compromised, and that gas and oil are coming up the outside of the well
casing, eroding the surrounding soft rock. Could this lead to a
catastrophic geological failure, unstoppable even by the relief wells?
John Hofmeister: This is what some people fear has occurred. It is also why the "top kill" process was halted.
If the casing is compromised the well is that much more difficult to
shut down, including the risk that the relief wells may not be enough.
If the relief wells do not result in stopping the flow, the next and
drastic step is to implode the well on top of itself, which carries
other risks as well.
As noted yesterday in The Engineer magazine,
an official from Cameron International - the manufacturer of the
blowout preventer for BP's leaking oil drilling operation - noted that
one cause of the failure of the BOP could have been damage to the well
bore:
Steel casing or casing hanger could have been ejected from the well and blocked the operation of the rams.
Oil industry expert Rob Cavner believes that the casing might be damaged beneath the sea floor, noting:
The
real doomsday scenario here… is if that casing gives up, and it does
come through the other strings of pipe. Remember, it is concentric pipe
that holds this well together. If it comes into the formation,
basically, you‘ve got uncontrolled [oil] flow to the sea floor. And
that is the doomsday scenario.
Cavner also said BP must "keep the well flowing to minimize oil and gas going out into the formation on the side":
And prominent oil industry insider Matt Simmons believes that the well
casing may have been destroyed when the oil rig exploded. Simmons was
an energy adviser to President George W. Bush, is an adviser to the Oil
Depletion Analysis Centre, and is a member of the National Petroleum
Council and the Council on Foreign Relations.
On May 26th, Simmons referred to this issue on MSNBC:
On May 27th, Simmons again addressed this issue on MSNBC:
And he referred to it again on Bloomberg on May 28th:
And again on MSNBC on June 7th :
We have a right to know what's really going on.
Given
the impact on America's people, natural resources and economy, BP and
the government must fully disclose the amount of damage underneath the
sea floor, and what that means for the efforts to cap the well.
»
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Giant "No Smoking!" signs need to go up -- visible from space. Louisiana could harvest shrimp already cooked. I could go on but the thought is obscene.
"Deserve's got nothin' to do with it..."
That's from "Unforgiven".
Or was that No Country for Old Men?
".... the way I figure it ... we all got it comin' to us"
Bump,
How so?
You profitting from this catastrophe?.(and again, I SAY, the Eco Nazi's by & large,are responsible for this,and yes that includes a LOT of Democrats),by not allowing use,drilling and exploration of known reserves inland.
And in shallower waters, or to save a fricken minnow(as the state of Kali is being destroyed the most productive farmland in the country?,40%+ unemployment!), or the pristine beauty of the natural ecosystem..BULLSHIT!.(the SOS was said about the AK pipeline in the 70's, the friggin caribou love it, and they are thriving), along with all other species in the area.
This same logic, got our Blue collar industries shut down, and shipped to hell and back........and it wasn't JUST for a buck.
As usual, all I see is the American people being told grab their ankles,we'll drive you home.
Pay thru the ASS, is all we/I have ever done...............you get a vote on any of this?.
Not me, nor 300+ million more Americans.
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts put into words, my exact feelings and thoughts, I have felt the same way for 25 years...............he could not have nailed it any better, or ON the head.
+ 1
On the other hand this may just be
hoaglandesque disinformation. The
subsurface well casing may hold and
the next cap attempt may be a total
success.
The damaged BOP may not suffer a
catastrophic failure.
The guys working this have advanced
the state of the art.
The claims made by hotels, resorts,
and restaurants against BP may be
reduced because these establishments
were suffering devastation from the
general economic conditions.
The Gulf, already self innoculated
against natural seeps may not be
as impacted by this disaster as we
fear.
yeah, ignore the problem, it will go away, deny all bad news...how does that work in your personal life?
Sometimes life sucks and we have to be grown ups and face that and say, given this situation, what is our best options moving forward. Or we can be babies and pretend problem doesn't exist while it gets way worse because of inaction and denial...
On the otherhand we can all just go smoke crack and hope TPTB take care of everything for us since they are so trustworthy.
Don't bogart that crack pipe my friend. Pass it over to me.
;-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvGJvzwKqg0&feature=related
The Outer Continental Shelf Deepwater Royalty Relief Act was signed by Clinton...combined with NAFTA and Rubinomics we certainly have to be grateful to have our best and brightest watching out for us ;-)
This is WAR and nothing else matters.
All hands on deck,man the guns.
This is the new War and it's against an EVENT.
Laws don't matter in war. We must win for the survival of our country, and it is approaching too late.
Man the Battle stations All hands on Deck. Throw ALL resources at this WAR/EVENT.
Viva la Rev!
The out of control oil flow rate from this well pretty much debunks the whole "Peak Oil" story. We will be literally awash in crude by the end of the summer....
Simmons' credibility will be ruined...
Ummmm, what does an out of control flow rate mean? As I understand it, that means you cant regulate it. If you want to bring it to zero, you cant. Seems to the major trouble in this story.
But how is this linked to peak oil? Care to explain?
Whilst I do not agree with your premise, I support your view that Peak Oil is a story and myth. The Russian scientists long ago debunked the hilarious oil from dinosaurs and dead plants theory by drilling wells over 40,000 ft deep and finding plenty of oil. Also, hydrocarbons are readily found on other planets such as Jupiter and Uranus, where it snows methane (Gee, those dinosaurs really got around didn't they)
They suggested the idea, but the abiotic oil theory has largely been debunked; although not completely disproven.
Oil at 40000 feet ? Hogwash ! Name one whom as drilled eight miles down . Drill would turn to plastic . Also .. if there WERE oil deposits 40000 feet down, you are apparently dismissing or forgetting tutonic plate shift causing same . NO oil at 40,000 my friend , just plastic magma .
Robo,
the price is about supply and demand. At the peak price demand destruction was big enough to first balance and then lead to some spare capacity. If my memory seves correctly somebody at the oildrum crunched the numbers and after the peak price there was spare capacity.
Few percent more demand and the price will go high again. To adapt, the market takes time; that leads to wild oscillations in the price. In economics this is known as the pig cycle; in process control a closed loop containing an element with reaction time can oscillate.
Moreover, the chart is a bit outdated. The current chart
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?c=$WTIC,uu[h,a]waclyyay[pb40!f][vc60][iue6,12,9!lj[$spx]]
shows a floor around 70$ and possibly a bumpy and slow uptrend.
RT,
I am not following you. Just because he may have been wrong related to the peak oil theory doesn't mean he is wrong about the crack in the seabed floor. What is the correlation?
"May have been worng"? What is this, story time?
The Most IMPORTANT Video You'll Ever See (part 1 of 8):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-QA2rkpBSY
Do unicorns piss sweet crude?
Saikyo Line:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx52f32toX0
That is a great video. Well worth watching. It would be hopeful to think if we could spread this video, people would wake up to some of the problems we face. The only problem though is that it depends on the most basic math (something most people in this country do not understand).
Thank you for sharing.
With all due respect, the video is not all that great, mainly BECAUSE it uses simple math. You can't do what he's doing without non-linear math or chaos theory. He is using linear math to describe something that is either a.) non-linear or b.) so badly understood that we don't understand HOW it is linear.
At this point in time, whenever you introduce human behavior into a calculation, all bets are off. We simply don't understand it well enough to predict all of its ramifications. It either involves freewill, which, by definition is impossible to quantify, or is so complex that we haven't yet figured out the equation that describes it.
I watched the whole damn thing, hoping this genius would point out this very obvious fly in the ointment, and he never did. And, by the way, I'm not being sarcastic; he probably is a math genius. But he is socially incompetant. His math is right, but his assumptions are, er, presumtuous.
Do we have a problem? Yes. They are legion. Is he looking in the right place? Not in my opinion.
That video is pure indoctrination - as you know, that not only doesn't need problems and solutions to be properly formulated, but since it's used to promote false ideas, it actually implies at least one of them to be wrong. The solution to this "problem" is given by nature, itself: population stops increasing and starts decreasing soon after required resources decrease (and vice-versa).
Actually, if you listen to the video, he says and i agree that if we do not provide an answer, nature/math will provide one. So the real question is should we just wait for nature to impose the solution? This is not indoctrination. This is basic math.
Basic math draws from nature, itself - people naturally reproduce as needed, afforded - if they predict bad times, they reproduce less; if they predict good times, they reproduce more - haven't you heard of the baby boom - what you think it was about? It's a sinusoidal function, btw.
This is indoctrination because it tries to change perception/behaviour - that simple - and it's indoctrination that unsettles natural balance, both ways: we want to have kids, but we can't afford to, right now - this is natural behaviour; I won't have kids, yet; I want a career first - this is indoctrination, family "planning" fueled.
You should read about eugenics movement and their rebranding into family "planning", when eugenics became a bad word.
If you are trying to communicate to the greatest number of people, you need to simplify it as much as possible. I was pointing out that I did not think he could simplify it any more (the simple power of doubling) and yet most people will not grasp it. If he has to use tools that very few people understand, how many will comprehend the message.
BTW, you may be right that we do not fully understand the problem, but depletion of a finite, non-renewable resource is in fact a linear problem.
Yawn - eugenists at work... yay :P
Um....I don't think so. They crashed the economy right there robo. What is a number for price after all? A number when it comes to a tangible asset however....Peak oil is an absolute. One of the main reasons for this disaster was that it is very difficult to drill off shore at the depth they did. The reason they were drilling at that depth is because there is no more low hanging fruit. Peak oil is real. Very real. Low hanging fruit, EROEI, etc, etc....
Since that chart peaked in 2008, the supply of money globally has fallen much more that the supply of oil. With less credit available to speculate with and Federal money tied up with bailouts of real estate (and therefore all American banking) and two "wars," oil prices, set more by traders and users, have deflated. Peak oil, or a prolonged economic depression that includes Mr. Obama's so-called "undulating plateau, followed by a slow decline in oil production" are the same thing. That the 2008 price of oil can't be sustained now, due to a global lack of solvency, doesn't mean anybody's making more oil ...
Gulf of Mexico production did peak back in 2002 I understand. And oil prices are more of a function of the value of the dollar, and of demand, rather than that of current production. Considering that in recessions past, oil sat around $10-$15/barrel, and today's $75/barrel seems deliciously expensive in comparison.
And I thought team Katla was going to take the cup.
Give it time. This is a marathon, not a 100 yard dash. Mother earth is just beginning to shake the fleas off her back.
OT.
CD, any idea what happened to Anonymous Monetarist? I miss his missives. Had visited his web site, but there hasn't been any article posted since May 16. I hope all's well with him.
I haven't a clue. But I've noticed something going on so I will hazzard a guess. Many people who have been raising their voices for years are beginning to lose faith and tire. Or other matters are beginning to press on them.
A good example is George Washington's blog and his contributions to ZH. He decided to shut down on June 1st and then came back in a limited role on June 5th. Dr. Paul Craig Jones no longer writes daily or even weekly. I could go on but I think you understand.
I have also considered stopping but then reconsidered. I write under other names elsewhere and it gets lonely when you hear people say "great, keep it up" but then never join in the fight. Though I would never lump my limited writing in the same category as the two giant examples I just gave.
These people are not being supported by others. We can't expect them to carry the water alone forever.
You nailed it; and it's probably part of the "plan." A millstone of apathy, entropy, decadence & ignorance slowly wears out - make that weans out - the masses until they no longer give a shite but for a few uninterrupted moments of peace and diversion.
In the end, the only recourse is to either remain true to the principle of divine goodness and to live a humble life which includes service to "others;" join the Legions; or get a high-powered deer rifle and set your scope up the food chain. And I guarantee you this: One hundred well-placed bullets could change the course of this fucked up country. A little real fear, shaken and stirred.
Now that Law has failed the people.
Imagine the ruling as they look over their shoulder as they check the bank statement.
Law(natural) may prevail after all.
Brave words. Lead the way.
Dear CD, I deeply respect your convictions and encourage you to continue even if at times it seems you are on your own. The mind control of the mass media is starting to erode and your voice will gain greater prominence.
I have chosen a different path; I prefer to opt out of a corrupt and irredeemable system that is beyond fixing, to the extent that I am able. This means, in part, finding like minded persons and forming a community of interest that bypasses and supercedes the false left/right political paradigm that dominates US society. There is no significant difference between Democrats or Republicans. As proof I offer Obama, who campaigned on a platform of change but is in reality a government of continuity, following in the steps of Bush, Clinton etc. Truth be told, we lost most of our freedoms long ago.
We cannot change this system, it is beyond broken. Instead, we can change ourselves by preparing for the inevitable collapse and preparing to lay the groundwork for a new and better society. Empty platitudes perhaps, but I will give it my best for my family and friends.
Truly said.
There is no economy. There is no media. America is principally a criminal enterprise.
Unfortunately, it has taken me many years of grappling with the thought that one cannot have a massive criminal enterprise, unless the majority are of criminal intent.
Thanks for responding, CD. Yes, you are right, it is a lonely fight and it does get tiring after a while. Because of your convictions, you are branded as a cuckoo by most of your friends and acquaintances. And if you are not bullish about the future, then, you are automatically branded as a doomsayer. Almost everybody on this planet have a bullish bias, and if you tell them something that doesn't appeal to their views, you are ostracized.
All I can advice you is if it gets tiring, take a break from it and then come back. But don't disappear. That would be a bigger loss to all of us. Please don't look for people to join the fight. In my opinion, none will. As I had opined in another thread, the revolution that all of us are looking for will not occur. We are not made of the same mettle as our forefathers; they were different beings. We have become parasites and will perish with the host.
Take care.
...the fight is truly lonely, and not for the easily discouraged. i count myself likeminded, and have talked for the last couple of years with minimal (yet somewhat encouraging) results. i read zh religiously, post sporadically as most of the time i am in the choir. my list of "friends" has been slowly diminishing as they are either thick in denial or just outright less intelligent than i had given them credit.
you who post and preach the gospel of realism and caution help me as much as help the small percentage of converts that we all hope to reach en masse or in our one on one intellectual confrontations. know that there are many out here in the ethersphere bearing the same cross of distress, reality, hope, persistance, anger, guilt, and the rest of the gamit of emotions that are to be expected of one in our situation.
all will not be converted, even when staring into the eyes of reality. the best we can hope for is the 80/20 ratio. push on. fight the good fight. what is good for us as individuals will be in part good for society as a whole.
Gott mit uns...
Correction. Dr. Paul Craig Roberts. Who the hell was I thinking of when I said Dr. Paul Craig Jones? :>)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/roberts/roberts-arch.html
Cognitive Dissonance
Paul Craig Roberts seems to post a fair amount of articles at Counterpunch.
Paul said goodbye on March 24, 2010.
http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts03242010.html
...he's already back ... he's a very depressed, distraught individual ... but he is writing again.
Where? I've seen some interviews but no original writing of an substance. Please give me a link.
John Paul Jones?
Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song (Live Video):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlNhD0oS5pk