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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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I am probably going to get junked on this but:
You stupid fuck. Oil companies are going after oil in tar sands. they are going after oil in shale. They are going after oil in plus 10K ft of water. They are doing this because it is no longer easy to get oil from other places.
If you know nothing, then please shut the fuck up ... you worthless piece fo shit.
This entire fiasco has been caused by GAS GUZZLERS...
If the original CAFE standards had been left in place or even accelerated (and SUVs not exempted) in the 90s, and the idea of equating self-worth with tonnage and horsepower of one's personal vehicle not been promoted so heavily, the US would have saved billions of barrels of oil over decades and would not now be so desparate to drill new wells anywhere and everywhere.
But if it were up to the oil companies, people would be encouraged to burn as much gas and consume as many petroleum-based products as possible ... but wait a minute, that's exactly what happened. Funny how things work out.
Some may find these arguments questionable and overly simplistic, but hell, they're as good as the one above.
+1000
Drilling in 5,000 feet of water is insane. Environmentalists-gone-wild have made this the ONLY choice... and caused this disaster, baby. It's why there is mostly silence from the Hollywood Tree-Huggers... as the Mississippi Delta dies a slow death.
New easy-to-drill Alaskan reserves could exceed total Gulf production in 5 years. Total land use would be about the size of LAX. But Limousine Liberals care more about inconveniencing Alaskan caribou herds... than destroying the livelihood, and possibly health, of millions of Southerners. Priorities, baby.
I reject this argument in general and in the specific context. It is the refuge of people who refuse to take responsibility for their own actions.
"I robbed the store because I lost my job and couldn't feed my family. I had no choice."
"I smacked her one because she wouldn't do what I told her to. I had no choice."
"They drilled under conditions so extreme that no one could predict all possible consequences, without taking correspondingly extreme safety measures. They knowingly took these risks because their first choice was not granted when they asked for it, therefore they had no choice."
The suggestion is that business interests should never be denied anything they demand, since they will just be forced to do something else; and of course the consequences of any resulting catastrophe is on the heads of whoever impeded them. Well bullshit, this is nothing short of blackmail.
Not exactly. They don't want to drill in alaska because they run HAARP in alaska and people in Nome are freaking out and killing their whole family. The freaking FBI goes down there ever other week to try to figure out just what in hell is wrong with that place without a freaking clue as to why it's very damaging to a human being being immersed in kilowatts of brain altering frequencies. Trying to drill for oil in alaska is like trying to rape people in the middle of a crime scene. It's just not convenient.
The tree huggers, aka Greenpeace, Sierra, etc are silent because they are bought off by BP. Take a close look at their donor list, and the backers behind the global warming scam and follow the money.
Following the money has often yielded up truths.
What candidate did BP give the most to?
What candidate did Wall St. give the most to?
Follow the money indeed.
DeeDeeTwo, " Environmentalists gone wild" is more like oil drillers gone wild.
merehuman, like in many disasters, there is LOTS of blame to go around.
BP: Bad well plan. Possibly modifying BOPs so that the diagrams were no longer correct for the drilling crews. Cutting corners to "make hole".
RIG, HAL, CAM: We will see who is at fault here and to what degree.
.gov: Lies. Inaction & bluster. Bad inspections.
Whacko Environmentalists: You too! Don't tut-tut those who produce the FUEL for your LIMOS.
Rest of us: Well, we elected these guys running our country.
...
PLENTY of blame to go around.
Same as the general financial catastrophe, lots of people to blame.
Alternative energy awaits...
http://alcoholcanbeagas.com/
DoChenRollingBearing, There is more. I have been tracking earthquakes and recently noticed several swarms in Calilfornia, as well as a horizontal belly line across the US. Oklahoma city been getting few lately. If you draw a line from Oki city left and right all across the US to Virginia and calif you will find earthquakes have been hitting this line repeatedly.
Same yellow pin procedure found me a circle in the NW that has NO earthquakes , but hits all around it.
Also am noticing where we had 1.6 before now we have 3s and 4s.
Also notice of late California has had more earthquakes than ususal
Lastly and most worrysome is the common sense part, to wit ..since larger quakes have hit all around the world except for the USA, i think its reasonable to assume we will get a big one rather soon.
Too late for blame.
What're the odds a quake in the GOM stops the leak? That'd be swell. Hand of God, indeed....
</Pollyanna off>
USGS keeps a real time website for earthquakes. Last evening a 4.4 hit Anza in SoCal. The "littles" are getting more and more frequent in the past year for Cali. A big one on the San Andreas is way overdue.
Dere you go...
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/
And "deregulation/eviseration" gone wild.
A blown oil well on land rarely results in oil washing up on the beach.
I know I'll probably get shit for saying it but the US needs this to change.
You can't change a corrupt system from inside the corruption unless there is enough motivation from the outside (basically they have no choice).
The Gulf disaster as bad as it is has to happen to force change in the political system.
It has to be soooo bad (significant death and destruction) to cut through all the lobbying bullshit.
Naaah, Harbourcity, everyone here with at least two neurons to rub together agrees with you.
Many others are slow on the uptake, partially because in many cases there is just too much confusion and bewilderment due to all the long-time astro-turf organizations out there: misdirectors who ostensibly pop up to attack the propagandists, yet these supposedly righteous organizations are phony and meant to act nonsensically and impotently, misdirecting many serious people's attention, donations, time, etc.
The so-called conservation lobby, which somehow oddly acts on the behalf of the oil and bank cartels, and land-owning monopolies. Those tax-exempt nonprofits (now referred to ignobly as NGOs) who are granted tax exemption chiefly so that they avoid real politics, thus rendering them useless and further impotent.
50,000 foundations and growing...George W. Bush's addition to the think tank (make that "stink tank") phony populace...Donald Rumsfeld debating on whether he should start yet another phony foundation!
And the Obama Administration, which should be doing everything to gain a closer alliance with Turkey and Iran, continues on with the unholy Middle Eastern trinity of the USA (corporate fascist state) and its two "allies" -- Israel and the Islamic Fundamentalist Wahabist Republic of Saudia Arabia (where they still practise Friday lunchtime beheadings every week -- how very American???).
Not from me you won't! Americans won't lift anything but a remote control these days.
"I know I'll probably get shit for saying it but the US needs this to change."
May I join you?...LOL.
"It has to be soooo bad (significant death and destruction) to cut through all the lobbying bullshit."
So your working hypothesis is this was no accident or our children would be better off in the long run living with an east coast dead zone?
Change that wont come until it is too late to change, which will bring change that is yet ever more unpredictable, and far too freaky to manage.
I totally agree. As far as the level of "death and destruction" required for pretty much anything to happen in America these days, I reckon until the sheeple and their homes are actually drowning in oil and tar, nobody's gonna lift a finger. It's come to the point where it's pretty much every man for himself now - everywhere. Our present society is beyond redemption at this point. Everything everywhere is simply falling apart. The few who survive will have to build a new system and start from scratch.
We're all Soviet Union.
Sure thing, GG. Pelicans, turtles and fish are one thing. School children on playgrounds 500 miles from the coast is another. It would have to come to that to have a measurable repercussion. The hurricane season could be the catalyst.
Rocky, I really enjoy reading your posts. Between the lines is as much fun as the words on screen.
For all the survivalistas, please stock up on as much Hydrogen Peroxide as you can get your hands on. The Walgreen brown bottles are good, last long.
H2O2 is absolutely magical, in too many words to enumerate here. Please see the link below for one of the pioneers. It is aswesome as a disinfectant, cleaner, wound healer, lung inhaler, alkalizer (our lives are very acidic, especially people who consume too much meat).
Bill Munro's method
http://www.care2.com/c2c/groups/disc.html?gpp=8968&pst=603219
It's the doctor in a bottle.
And for a sideways look (not financial, bigger picture) please visit my blog
http://aadivaahan.wordpress.com
Something there to tickle the mind and rip the blinders off.
ORi nice to see us agree on something again....H2O2 is a magic potion for sure, just about to give the garden a morning spray with it (diluted of course)
:-)
How much do you dilute it tip e?
Approximate or precise? Too much burned some leaves in mine.
a capful per quart of h2o...very approximate...definitely have experienced leaf burning when i go too overboard.
Gordon & Rocky, guys you are right as usual.
If this disaster turns out to be the catastrophe we all fear, then maybe something could happen.
On the other hand maybe we could just hope that Israel just gets the whole damn thing started by taking out Iran's nuke sites and the damn Hole in their holy city of Qom where the Twelfth Imam is supposed to come out of...
What with the debt, the GoM disaster, and everything else, it looks like the American Way of Life is dead before long. Maybe delaying the inevitable is WORSE than just bringing it down now.
But, what do I know.
I am Bearing gold, but not a golden bearing.
if what Simmons says in his interview with Ratigan is what is actually going on, this "leak" is not only going to bankrupt BP...heck, that's the least of the problems.
2 things. One, there is now rain falling in the south which has some concentration of crude oil and oil dispersant IN THE RAIN!!!
Two, I have been reading that the actual resevoir that BP tapped into was known as abiotic oil and is not a fossil fuel. It is the rumored stuff that the Earth has that is naturally regenerated BUT it is only available WAY under the surface. It could account for the massive pressure behind this oil we are seeing now. Here is a link, it is a conspriracy type link (as if the MSM is not a conspiracy itself)--but if anyone can provide ANY official information with ANY type of plausibility, please post it.
http://www.debatepolitics.com/conspiracy-theories/74743-bp-spill-truth-situation.html
This is a pretty even handed discussion of it.
http://www.rense.com/general58/biot.htm
All of the oil ever found has a signature of organic origin. That does not necessarily mean that it was formed where it was found as it can and will migrate.
Thanks for the link. Very informative and a good discussion of the biotic and abiotic theories...
Lindsey Williams is a very interesting man. love listening to the preacher cadence of his voice.
There were things that contributed to the explosion completely beyond the hands of even the best engineers in the world. Some events are "out of the box". They do not fit into the normal parameters of previous experiential data. The oil spill because of its luminous nature is bringing up much debate about the nature of capitalism, energy, private property, human knowledge, infallibility and what form of management structure should prevail. This is all timely. Things happen for a reason. Wise counsel must prevail.
P.S. The word “chance” comes from Old French meaning to “fall from the sky” Remarkable, non !
maximum entropy has been reached. the world is too complex to sustain itself in its current state. this is just a page in the book.
Precisely...an extinction event will have implications until the end of time
read this
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25705.htm
George, i will have to come back with a link and shall. I saw a vid this am showing oil clearly coming from the sea floor. Hope i can find the link.
heres that link to seafloor leaking
http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com
its also my favorite of the moment on utube . I am '1mealperday '
That is an impressive collection of material. Thanks.
George W, you are doing ZH and the world at large a huge favor by following this. Damn right we need the truth.
Monkey, we need the truth even more because there is the real probability that this will be a game ender.