This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
BP Suspends "Top Kill" For Second Time After Trying Two Junk Shots. Less Than 10% of Injection Fluids are Staying Inside the Leaking Pipes
As I reported
yesterday, the "Top Kill" attempt to stop the oil flow using mud had
failed, and BP would now try to use a "junk shot" to close the leaks in
the pipe using various debris.
The New York Times is now reporting
that the junk shot approach is not going well:
The
company [again] suspended pumping operations at 2:30 a.m. Friday after
two “junk shot” attempts, said the technician, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly
about the efforts."The suspension of the effort was not announced, and appeared to again
contradict statements by company and government officials that suggested
the top kill procedure was progressing Friday."
***
The technician working on the
effort said that despite the injections at various pressure levels,
engineers had been able to keep less than 10 percent of the injection
fluids inside the stack of pipes above the well. He said that was
barely an improvement on Wednesday’s results when the operation
began....
“I won’t say progress was zero, but I don’t know if we
can round up enough mud to make it work,” said the technician.
“Everyone is disappointed at this time.”
Update: It appears that BP is starting preparations for its next fix-it scheme.
As
FT's oil spill blog reports:
The
ROVs are definitely up to something:
Update: LMRP 3.28pm
BST (10.28am EDT; 9.28am CDT)A couple of TOD commenters believe
some of the recent footage shows the Lower Marine Riser Package, which
BP says it is preparing in parallel with the top kill efforts. One
points out that the camera in the screen shot below seems to say LMRP
(see text at the centre).
As BP explains
today:
In
parallel with the ongoing top kill operation, preparations have been
made for the possible deployment of the lower marine riser package
(LMRP) cap containment system.Deployment would first involve
removing the damaged riser from the top of the failed BOP to leave a
cleanly-cut pipe at the top of the BOP's LMRP. The cap, a containment
device with a sealing grommet, will be connected to a riser from the
Discoverer Enterprise drillship, 5,000 feet above on the surface, and
placed over the LMRP with the intention of capturing most of the oil
and gas flowing from the well.The LMRP cap is already deployed
alongside the BOP in readiness for potential deployment. If it is
decided to deploy this option, this would be expected to take some
three to four days.In addition to these steps, planning is
being advanced for deploying, if necessary, a second BOP on top of the
original failed BOP.
More updates:
Third
Giant Underwater Oil Plume Discovered
Rumor:
Secretary of the Navy Wants to Sink a Battleship On Top of the Oil
Spill
»
- advertisements -
Updated DOW charts :
http://stockmarket618.wordpress.com
http://www.zerohedge.com/forum/latest-market-outlook-1
this article by George is pretty stale as in a few days old, I know its a holiday weekend but for a current news story...
Everybody stock the pantries this is definitely the wake up call. They are going to kill the gulf while they sit back and scream we got this.
This will be the eye opener that they will sit there and say it's handled right up until it all falls apart.
Everyone here is thinking about the environment and the economice- I am more concerned wth the children living in the area . Wherever this reaches shore whether wind blown fumes or the actual oil it is a severe health risk for people especially children. Exxon Valdez was in an area where not a lot of people lived this spill is in a densly populated area .
http://www.sciencecorps.org/crudeoilhazards.htm
I jwas curious to see what type of affects this spill would have on peoples health the above scared the crap out of me
i read somewhere once that if americans would just properly inflate their tires to the correct pressure the savings in gasoline (oil) would reduce the amount of imports by upwards of 10 percent. There really is no excuse for drilling wells in such deep, hurricane prone waters. It is greed, really. Nothing else. Greed by people who want to consume not to conserve. Greed by investors who wont put money into conservation when they design buildings, politicians that want oil company campaign contributions. And oil companies that want to satisfy the demand they have helped create. This spill that is killing fish and turtles, and probably people that someday will eat the fish that dont die, that is destroying the beauty and safety of the coast and even the ocean's health, its just the collective karma of a lazy decadent and morally bankrupt people. What is so sad to see is how a nation's karma affects other people and animals who are innocent of the deeds that brought such harm to the planet.
George Washington stick to the friggen facts instead of posting links to outlandish rumours ....
"NEW ORLEANS — The number of birds being treated for oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill is rising. But, as with sea turtles and dolphins, the vast majority of dead birds found so far don't show any oil."
http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20100529/HURBLOG/100529155/1292?Title=...
aquaman,
¿why have you forsaken us?
George:
The spill is teaching us many lessons.
First. There are no answers. BP, Team Obama? They're clueless. Considering that arguably the best minds...the smartest people in the room...are working on the problem and this GD thing has been spewing oil for over a month, what does that tell us?
Zero once again has published the most interesting news feed thus far. It was the Matt Simmons interview on Bloomberg. As Tyler pointed out, you can argue with Matt's calls on oil prices, but he has excellent contacts in the industry. If he's saying there is another leak that the cameras are not seeing and that its causing a plume the size of Maryland and Delaware to form roughly five miles from the current site, I'd believe him.
I also think Simmons's comments regarding what the Russians resorted to when they dealt with similar blow-outs should not be dismissed as ridiculous.
What is surprising to me is that now that Obama has said the buck stops with him, he will have to do something. Maybe Rahm can see if Bill Clinton has some ideas.
This tragedy demonstrates that its not just BP that's too big to fail, its also the federal government that is too big to solve this crisis.
The nation ought to think long and hard about handing over more responsibility for things like healthcare, AIG, GM and all the other things Obama believes can be solved by federal bureaucrats.
This is a time to realize that virtually ALL federal regulatory systems don't work. Securities? Banking? Communications? Oil and gas? EPA? DEA? Take your pick. Ask anyone who lives in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi or Florida.
Those of us in the investment business understand that BP's been lying about what happened since the first day. They've got exposure. The entire company could be lost. Same with Transocean. The reaction of these executives is human nature. But its the federal system that's supposed to cut through the bullshit and protect its citizens...its coastline.
How hard is it to understand the difference between the technical aspect of stopping the leak, which should be BP's responsibility, and protecting the coastline, which should be the federal role. But idiot Obama let BP call all the shots. BP is still calling all the shots. WHY?
It makes one wonder. What do they know that we don't know? Its been over a month now and the full extent of this disaster is still NOT KNOWN. The media is down there, yet there is virtually no decent coverage. Any dime store magician will tell you tricks are based on misdirection. We're all looking at those stupid cameras, where should we really be looking?
"People constantly speak of 'the government' doing this or that, as they might speak of God doing it. But the government is really nothing but a group of men, and usually they are very inferior men."
H.L. Mencken
Next up - a new type of seasonal disaster - the sludgicane !!!
Hands across the Water, Hands across the Sky.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsWufNDJl4M
Lots of action going on now (7:20 PM Pacific). Three ROV's are working on the BOP; much better than just seeing that poison spew.
This problem will not be solved until the cost is shifted to the taxpayes and 13, 179 new bureaucrats are hired to study it for a year or so.
For all Republicans who want small government and no regulation, you got it, down in the Gulf. Grand Ol' Party. Curious to me that ALL the Republican leadership have Big Oil experience. They should be living, wife, kids, Palin kids, Cheney grandkids, all living down in the Gulf, breathing the air, drinking the water, eating the food, along with the BP executives and their wives and children. Where are they this weekend? Luckily for the American people, the 2012 Republican Presidential Convention will be held on an oil rig, regardless of the actual name of the state.
As I remind my conservative friends, when the science (geology, climate, metrics) are correct, the politics won't matter, and Rush and Fox won't be able to say anything to change it.
Given the restrictions in flight over the Gulf, Barack may be planning to let what's left of the Republican Party learn that the white papers produced by the oil lobbyists belong in file 13, the one with Rush's Big Picture on it. Oh, and happy weekend to Al Gore.
Yes, Geo. he said he was the father of the story in response to my new book on the dumbest oil well kill ideas.
1. Sinking battle ship
2. Liquid Nitrogen freeze
3. Giant Screw
3. Methane crystals
4. Lead sinkers
5. Mercury
6. Giant straw
7. Turn the well into a production well (really)
8. Nuclear weapons (giant stupid)
9. 100 tons of fast setting post cement
10. Nano bots (really, invent nano bots really)
As a long time member of TOD, working in high energy I found it fascinating how little people know of physics or even simple grade school science. So I have started a book of the dumb ideas like this.
The cover art will be the sinking battle ship with a nuclear handle as a screw driver for the giant gold plated (the gold is my idea with gov. involvement I thought it should be gold plated) screw.
They are going to regret not nuking this thing shut weeks ago. Watching the video showing the russians doing it made it look like a real good option as it appeared to work perfectly.
Just heard on the MSM that the Top Kill charade has officially failed. Bring on mushroom cloud.
The Oil and Gas Regulation that should have never been changed.
bit.ly/1ax9Pw
All to save $500K per B.O.P.
Changed by WHO?
Should it have been changed back long before now?
My point exactly: They were denied a drilling permit in shallower waters closer to shore in an effort to save the environment from an oil spill. I don't think it is rocket science to figure out that the risk of drilling at 5000 feet below the surface carries far greater risk than at 500 feet, both in terms of a potential rig failure and a cleanup, yet our various levels of government can't figure this out and consequently we have this disaster of epic size, yet very predictable.
Their effort was thwarted by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a key oil industry ally who said that the bill would end up empowering only the "biggest of the big oil" companies to drill for American's offshore resources.
The push to raise the liability cap came as BP considered various methods to stem the uncontrolled well, which the Coast Guard and BP estimate is gushing at least 210,000 gallons of oil a day into the waters about 50 miles off Louisiana.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/14/nation/la-na-oil-spill-new-20100514
Top Industries
Lisa Murkowski
Leadership PACs
$494,500
Electric Utilities
$473,563
Oil & Gas
$433,989
Lobbyists
$338,618
Lawyers/Law Firms
$331,225
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cycle=Career&cid=N00026050&type=I
A Democratic bid to pass a bill raising liability to $10 billion from $75 million was blocked yesterday by Republican Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma. Inhofe said a higher limit would make it impossible for independent producers to drill in the Gulf, where they account for 63 percent of natural-gas production and 36 percent of oil pumped from wells.
“Big Oil would love to have these caps there so they can shut out all the independents,” Inhofe said.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-19/republicans-put-taxpayers-on-hook-for-oil-damage-obama-says.html
Top Industries James M InhofeOil & Gas
$1,228,223
Retired
$606,596
Leadership PACs
$526,776
Health Professionals
$456,650
Electric Utilities
$439,467
Insurance
$366,866
Lawyers/Law Firms
$331,741
Lobbyists
$323,717
Misc Finance
$315,899
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cycle=Career&cid=N00005582&type=I
So, 2 Republican Whores Block the push to raise the Cap for Damages? Shouldn’t the insurance coverage carried be equal to the potential Damage the Coverage is affording protection for?
If a little Company is drilling a BIG Hole! Shouldn’t the insurance protection be equal with the potential amount of damage possible?
$433,989 and $1,228,223 of Bribes / Lobby monies bought Protection for the Oil Companies… $1.6(ish) Million dollars bought $65 Billion dollars worth of Protection. All to save the Little Oil Companies? How about Mandatory Insurance Protection equal to the amount of potential damage? With deductibles or participation of damages paid of 25% or more to be paid by the Company Responsible.
Why are Companies not compelled to provide coverage to the scope and scale of the potential damages? Why does it take 12 months to inspect these rigs? Instead of every 30 days?
Someone shared this site… I will now do the same in hopes that those of us who want to know more, may find the information… a lil easier.
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6493
http://www.livestream.com/wkrg_oil_spill/share?utm_source=lsplayer&utm_medium=ui-share&utm_campaign=wkrg_oil_spill&utm_content=wkrg_oil_spill
JW thanks for the links. Oildrum been good info till the masses barged in with every idiotic idea possible. I still say ...Remove BP from site and from control. Failure of trust and integrety. Give the job to Exxon with military oversight.
Not a penny to bail out or help Lousiana.
Fuck these These big oil ass kissing, confederate flag waving bastards from the South who want to have it both ways all the time
United we Stand. It is our differences that make us truly unique.
We agree to disagee, but we will always, Always, Stand United.
We are not the EU. We are not the U.S.S.R.
We are the United States of America.
There are millions who have fought and died to make this as true today as it has been for over 100 years.
We Honor those brave men and women this Weekend and on Monday.
We must never forget who we are. Never.
We are all Americans.
When things are at their worst, We must be at our best.
So ... let's stop listening to hymns and go ahead
Actually, if you want to bring this desaster into a political realm..
I would argue that a) this desaster would not have happened on Bush's watch and b) that by comparison Bush's response to Katrina was that of a super hero.
Obama's Katrina, the people would be living in the Pooper Dome 6 weeks later.
But this is not a political problem because the corporation BP screwed up.
Where's Obama on vacation right now? Bush flew to Katrina land few days later and had a tour of the area witin a week after desaster struck. Bush's Fema acted considerably fast in supplying emergency relief and moving vast amounts of people out of the area.
Obama could have hired all available men and women in the area to assist with the clean up. He could have insisted that the efforts get international support which has been offered since week 1. Nada.
Y'all thought Bush was incompetent and he looked like a monkey. Well, now you got what you deserve. A monkey look alike running the country into the ground.
MMS,
when all you know on the job is pr0n, drugs and golf junkets, you create emergency plans using golfs balls to FILL THE HOLE!
Isn't that right Mr. Spackler.
In an attempt to save the environment, we have forced off-shore drilling to depths of 5,000 feet. Good grief. What a short sighted policy! A leak at shallow depths closer to shore it seems would be far easier and quicker to contain than what we are experiencing at 5,000 feet where no man can survive.
BP wanted to drill offshore and were denied. Moving out to dangerous depths, where they had much less control, was an elective business decision with predictable consequences. But nobody was forced to do anything; BP chose this path to get what they wanted. Absolving them of responsibility on this logic legitimizes blackmail.
Note the deafening silence from Dick Cheney on this, ex-CEO of Halliburton, the world's largest oilfield services company, and the company directly responsible for sealing this well.
Mr. Cheney, you've not been slow to correct the current Presidency on other matters. This issue is directly in your field of expertise - care to enlighten us on how to proceed? Mr. Cheney? Mr. Cheney???
Two Texas oilmen ran the country for the last eight years, ripping down enviromental and safety oversight everywhere they saw it. And it's OBAMA's fault that he doesn't have a magic wand to wave, and fix their screwup? Gimme a break.
So, using your same "logic"....
9/11 was Clinton's fault.
Can't have your cake and eat it too, son.
Hogwash. Ever read into what happened before 9/11, or do you get all your info from FauxNews?
Richard Clarke was the top US anti-terrorism official at the time. Clinton appointed him, and Bush kept him on the job when he took over in 2000. As the now declassified documents reveal, Clarke was SCREAMING about al Queda; he asked for a principals' review at least as early as January 2001.
Condalezza Rice, Bush and Cheney ignored him.
http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB147/index.htm
If the lights go out... all ya'll with those "W" stickers or "is it 2012 yet?" stickers and / or "Pro Life" stickers... will be my target practice... as the days drag on, I hope the rapture crowd gets what it wants... I hope the lights go out so the herd can be thinned of the ignorant masses that voted those blood sucking vultures into power...
The problem that America suffers more than any other, is the ignorant masses...
As for Clinton, the Liberal who balanced the Budget...
Clinton AdministrationCapturing Osama bin Laden has been an objective of the United States government since the presidency of Bill Clinton.[108] Shortly after the September 11 attacks it was revealed that President Clinton had signed a directive authorizing the CIA (and specifically their elite Special Activities Division) to apprehend bin Laden and bring him to the United States to stand trial after the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Africa; if taking bin Laden alive was deemed impossible, then deadly force was authorized
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osama_bin_Laden
and so you may be reminded of your Conservtive God Send, Praise be... spread the word brothers and sisters the time is near!
On December 19, 2008, President Bush used his executive authority to declare that TARP funds may be spent on any program he personally deems necessary to avert the financial crisis.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubled_Asset_Relief_Program
It is the "fault" of regulatory capture and the incest between business and government that encourages this to happen.
Show me a political party or administration that innocent of such failings. Trying to blame everything on whoever you hate the most is pointless.
Rock solid analogy there. You are really on a roll today.
Hard to remember how this all started, but for a good timeline perspective:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/28/disaster-gulf-days-counting/
Meanwhile NYT reports third junkshot had no better success:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/us/30spill.html
Excerpt: "Meanwhile, anticipating that the top kill may not succeed, BP began preparations to try to place a second containment vessel over the leak. Mr. Suttles said BP was also preparing to replace the damaged blowout preventer."
They should just plug the damn hole with Obama.
Well now. There's something that nobody has thought of. Very clever.
The need to inject lengths of steel wire into the pipe,one after the other, until the flow stops.
This is simple physics. Anything else will fly out of the hole.
It's not just the pipe anymore.
The pressure build up would break through the pipe.
It needs to be sucked up and faster than it pushes through. Create a vacuum of some sort to be able to stall the flow of the liquids.
What could generate this amount of suction and pump into a fleet of tankers?
is it that the well casing was never designed to contain
the product but merely constructed to facilitate the flowing
and directing of the product to another container at the surface,
sea level? is this standard practice in the deep water petroleum
exploitation industry? 1/2 inch thick steel pipe, the casing, i have heard.
I seem to like this idea. Please write to the powers-that-be ..
Why is BP still in charge of this disaster at this time? Isn't the magnitude of the disaster so great at this point that United States interests trump the interests of a single corporation?
Sadly there is no one in private industry or government better qualified than BP to deal with this disaster.
But they also know what strategies are best for themselves vs what will do the most good for the most people.
So, we have little choice except to put our faith in the arsonists to put out the fire, and hope for the best.
reminds me of the banks, regulating themselves with bonuses. Ha ha
The crooks know best how to rob, put them in charge of the banks.
Aint we been sheepish long enuf?
Excuse me.
6 fucking weeks and nothing has been accomplished.
If that's what we have to rely on, I'd argue that BP has no business being in the business of drilling for oil.
Pull all their licenses and find new players.
I'm not saying they're competent to fix it. But they have the most experience simply because no one else has pulled such a damn fool stunt on this magnitude before. I agree, we are probably screwed if this is our best hope. Too bad it is.
As for BP, I'm betting they will be in the oil business a year from now and bigger than ever. Any takers?
Who would you put in charge? I'm not trying to be funny I just wonder who you think would be better qualified to sort this out and why?
I'd put Exxon in charge. (I kill me.)
Naval Corps of Engineers ... or ... http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/could-cleanup-fix-for-gulf-oil-spill-lie-in-secret-saudi-disaster/19476863