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BP Will Go Ahead with Relief Wells ... But Admiral Allen Warns That There is a "Weak Link"
A day after saying that relief wells may not be needed, the government has decided that they are.
That's good news, as it greatly increases the odds that the oil well will permanently be capped.
Oil industry expert Robert Cavnar pointed out on July 14th - in arguing against the well integrity test - that there was a weak leak in the capping stack:
I'm sorry, but I have to ask, What
the hell are they doing? We now have an ability to capture all the oil
and stop this massive pollution of the Gulf (as well as measure it). We
have great weather to get the relief well completed. We already know,
without the "well integrity test", that they have severe damage to the
BOP and other surface equipment and casing. If that weren't true, the
damn thing wouldn't have blown out in the first place. We also know
that between the "capping stack" and the old BOP that there is a non-wellhead rated piece of equipment, known as the flex joint, along with the riser adapter, that we've talked about before. This piece of equipment, that normally sits above
the BOP, is not rated to nearly those pressures encountered by wellhead
equipment. All of the other components in this BOP are rated to at
least 10,000 psi (new, off the shelf, and undamaged); this piece is by
far the weakest link in the chain, especially since it took severe
stresses as the rig sank and 5,000 feet of riser torqued it as it sank.
Yesterday, Adm. Allen announced they were going to take the stack,
including this flex joint, to as high as 9,000 psi for up to 48 hours.
I have been unable to learn the model and rating of the flex joint
here, but Oil States advertises their LMRP flex joints to be rated
600-6,000 psi, far below the 9,000 to which Adm Allen said they would
potentially go; even with the 2,200 psi of hydrostatic pressure on the
outside of the competent caused by it being in 5,000 feet of water,
it's still at least 1,000 psi differential pressure over the rating of
the component.
Today, Admiral Thad Allen said
that the "spooling tool" was only rated to 7,500 psi, and that BP and
the government are worried about blowing out that part:
Here's the full transcript from Admiral Allen's press briefing.
As Cavnar explained on July (using BP's illustration and explanation):
Here's a good illustration of the entire assembly:
As you can see, the bottom spool of the assembly bolts up to the flex joint flange at the top of the BOP (blowout preventer).
Because
Cavnar and Allen name different - but adjoining - parts, I'm not sure whether it is
actually one part or both the flex joint and the transition spool which
are the weak leak.
But the bottom line is that BP has to be very careful when drilling the relief well.
And as I wrote on July 6th:
The team leader for BP’s relief wells – Boots and Coots – is 40 for 40 in successfully stopping oil spills using relief wells (around 6:10 into video).
Many oil drilling experts are hopeful that BP’s relief wells will succeed on the first try. I hope and pray that they do.
But the relief wells are not a slam dunk, especially at such extreme depths.
But the relief wells are not a slam dunk, especially at such extreme depths.
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http://phoenixrisingfromthegulf.wordpress.com/2010/08/14/diagrams-of-the...
Have a gander at this.
gandered, great link!
my prior comment deleted, did not add up.
multiple layers of confusion remain.
from where does b.k. lim get the location of the blow out?
it is not where well b was supposed to be in either of it's
specified locations. ? a may/2010 live feed?
.
I believe so. In fact it was the position shown on the ROV before the storm, which led them to remove the equipment for a short period.
look see here, not to change the subject.
.
http://bklim.newsvine.com/_news/2010/07/30/4781973-why-is-bps-macondo-blowout-so-disastrous-beyond-patch-up-
.
Perhaps Henry Waxman was not aware that there was a massive share sell-off (531,461 shares in total) by 4 BP directors just days after the 11 March incident. Tony Hayward sold 223,288 shares (a third of his total holding) on 17 March. This was followed by Byron E Grote on 18 March (58,536 shares), Andy Iglis on 23 March (219,500 shares) and Ian C Conn on 30 March (13,073 shares). And that were only BP’s directors. What about the shares sell off by BP’s executives? See Massive Shares sell off prior to expected disaster.
.
It is not that BP directors and executives were ignorant to the problems on the Macondo wells. Their personal fortune mattered more. It is not that they do not know a blowout was inevitable. They were only wrong in thinking that the blowout could be controlled. They had not expected the blowout to spin so badly out of control.
It did not matter whether Macondo A or Macondo B was eventually drilled to reservoir level since both wells were located right on top of the seabed escarpment which is clearly an indication of some massive geological structure beneath.
Would moving the location have made a difference?
These people don't have a freaking clue what they're talking about. You morons who are still obsessing about the sidetrack in March are ignoring the months of debunking of this issue. Once the well was sidetracked this issue was mute. It means nothing and the stock sales are absolutely meaningless. The blowout occurred because of stupid cost-cutting moves at the end of the sidetrack well. The original hole issues in March had NOTHING to do with it.
Wow GW - what the hell is this post about? The Cavner shit was shown to be meaningless when the static kill worked - the time for a failure in the stack was then. Once that worked successfully (even if there is still minor communication which is not clear from the gibberish we're getting from Thad the mad) there is no longer any reason to fear failure in the wellhead stack. The relief well will not increase the pressure at the surface, it will lower it.
Glad to hear there is no longer any talk about not going ahead with the relief well. I do wonder what the hell the communication must be like because it looks absurd.........I'm suspicious the engineers are starting to bullshit the gov't types just to keep it interesting........
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5BcV5iyuds
.
and then there is this. anyone care to pass judgement
on it?
Jump the Shark
After 18 months of great analysis and insight Zero Hedge, now has GW jumping sharks all the way up to New Jersey. Very sad. Original content is a bitch. The quick decline to stupidity is very sad.
"18 months of great analysis" of which you've been a member for.... 3 days. Why the lack of participation until you sensed it was time to troll?
Last night on CBS evening news, the reporter explained to the few still watching that BP had to drill the relief well because 1000 bbls of oil somehow go left in the well bore during the supposely successful "static bottom kill". Thats insane, because the heavy mud was circulated before cementing operations and all hydocarbons would have been forced out of the casing. Several days ago, BP VP Kent reported 4200 psi in the well which is above the 2200 psi expected at the seabed. Thats a problem and indicates the well may be in communication with the reservior. Is BP reporting psi in the well on a daily basis which would indicated control problems. All info will be tightly controlled until the Pres gets out of town.
um... what magical "bottom kill" is CBS speaking of? Why don't we go send a ROV back over to lamber X: 1202514, Y: 10434194 just to remind us how the blown out well is really doing. Not the long since abandoned Well A.
What a focking joke
Wanted: One dead horse.
GW, please bottom kill it. After all, we be on peak oil, so how much can leak?
Or is peak oil crap, too?
George Washington------- thanks again for the information, keep it up
infowars.com = zerohedge.com
Birthers, Truthers and Fish Kills.
Awesome work, GW.
Please continue providing us the facts. Facts.
You have presented here more than any tv, radio, magazine or newspaper. For free.
Ahmeexnal said it best!! We are more than they and the vermin are rat bastard chit filling vermin adult diapers by the Titanic loads!! George Washington exposes one nation under fraud and we the people will not abandon such who have extraordinary nard juices flowing for freedom!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0heL2Czeraw !!
Even though AssFire is upset with GW, and he may have overplayed it somewhat, I still think he's doing everyone a favor and updating and organizing the information.
This story has legs, no question, and the impact is likely to affect the markets.
Thanks George
Thx EZYJET PILOT & Matt Simmons!! One nation under fraud!!
GW,
I think you have really crossed the line. I think what you are doin g now is reckless slander and I think you can be held legally responsible for it. Claiming dead fish in NJ are caused by BP (when every single respectable scientist says there is no chance it entered the loop current) etc.... I think you should be sued. You have said over and over you have no economic interest in this. I am starting to doubt this. And if you do have one than you should really watch it. What you are doing is essentially LYING and the fact you can't admit you are wrong also makes you not much of a man.
Are you denying that oil entered the loop current? If so, please brush up on the ocean current mapping for May.
Are you denying that there are giant underwater plumes?
Are you denying that crude, methane and corexit all deplete oxygen? If so, please re-read the sources I cited, and then provide facts refuting them.
Are you in the military or working for a contractor or for BP encouraging countering "inaccurate" blog posts? If so, please disclose.
I'm not short BP or ANY company in any way related to the oil spill or BP or anything remotely connected.
G.W. - are you claiming that the corexit made it all the way to New Jersey, undiluted enough to suck the oxygen out of the water? Or did the fish get poisoned in the gulf and swim to New Jersey? It is not clear to me from these last two topics of yours what you are suggesting.
Richard P,
Thank you for the straight question. The straight answer is I have no idea. There are several possibilities: (1) the unusually warm summer in the Gulf (I haven't researched this myself, but I've heard it) depleted oxygen, and the fish crowded into shore to get away from plumes (dispersed or solid) of crude,methane and/or corexit. See Deep sea creatures “congregating on the surface”; “Like ALL of the sea life is trying to get out of the water”; (2) the fish and pollutants all rode the loop current together; (3) the pollutants are so toxic (big underwater plumes, etc.) that they killed fish directly on the East Coast when they hit. The point is that scientific study is needed, but the government and BP are trying to squash all independent research. For example, from August 13th: “NOAA won’t begin checking for submerged methane gases”; Top scientist says “It seems crazy”
Look into their eyes GW...they have not been dead long. It's all in the eyes my friend.
Tongue firmly implanted in cheek now;
Apparently what we need here is a thermonuclear device detonated off the NJ shore at sea level to vaporize any lingering corexit coming up the gulf stream...maybe write on the device "Big Boy Simmon's" or sumpin.
This may be a good time to EVACUATE THE ENTIRE NE PART OF THE COUNTRY!!!
Goose, gander ya'll...just sayin ;-)
Thanks.
You moron, the global revolution is coming.
You and your BP masters will face justice.
You won't be able to hide in Fidel Castro's (Rockefeller puppet) island.
Your gulf state sanctuaries won't be able to protect you either.
Are you shitting your pants yet, bitch?
I amazed anyone takes what Thad (what lies do you want me to spout now) Allen or BP has to say seriously anymore. BP should stand for Beyond Parody! Wake the f*ck up America.
by thesapein
on Fri, 08/13/2010 - 22:18
#521202
only plugging because this video is so conclusive and was dedicated to Matt Simmons:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oaf998FwQVI&feature=channel
by Hansel
on Fri, 08/13/2010 - 23:10
#521255
+1, good video
by dark pools of soros
on Sat, 08/14/2010 - 09:20
#521493
now it makes sense why Simmons had to be capped...
by Rusty Shorts
on Sat, 08/14/2010 - 10:47
#521618
- holy shit, thanks jesus!!!
by blindman
on Sat, 08/14/2010 - 11:39
#521683
yea,
and ...the y 10431685.95 coordinate doesn't
belong to either well a or b. it indicates a location
north of both these wells. from the video, live feed,
from bp from 4/2010. sheesh.
by thesapein
on Sat, 08/14/2010 - 15:11
#521878
Those coordinates are in feet measured within the sector, so you're talking about less than ten feet between where the camera was sitting and well B, before the camera moved to well A.
by blindman
on Sat, 08/14/2010 - 20:53
#521988
not really,
there are 3 y coordinates under consideration here.
a : y 10431617 00
b : y 10434194 00 (typo in recorded document on video?) should read
b : y 10431494 00 ?
...and then this one from the live feed
? : y 10431685 95 .
.
note: there are two separate coordinates indicated for well b.
the difference being between y: 10434194.00' and 10431494.00',
neither of which would be visible from the coordinates posted
on the b.p. live feed footage presented in this video. the map seems
to indicate the second value is a typo.?
looks like more than 100 feet, closer to 2700(typo) feet north of
b and 60 some feet north of a. also if you look at the x coordinate
there seems to be 300 ft. separation between a and b in that dimension
and the other ? mystery coordinates from the live feed place it's
location about 2/3 the distance from a to b.
so that is roughly 200 feet west of a?
i'll grant that reading the
coordinates from the live feed is difficult but the locations do not
add up so to speak. but so what. their credibility is shit anyway...
.
again ? live feed coordinates..
x: 1202581 28
y: 10431685 95
. does not match a or b by at least/more than 100 + feet. ?
did i transcribe this y coordinate incorrectly? no.
and visibility down there is what? 30 feet.
this does not work. clear error or fraud, or both, on the part
of the producer of the live feed, they would claim error no doubt.
or better yet, blame it on a damaged net belonging to
a fisherman.
b.p.. all lies all the time every step, everyday. it is what they
do in terms of public relations for liability concerns. we needed
an honest broker, we got spin and damage control. here a dynamic
that repeats and this is what will/does do us in.
apologies for the repeated corrections if you noticed. typos on coordinates
are confusing.
ok, perhaps..
in april the bop was where the rov live feed
indicated but was moved to location well a as
b.k. lim says. that seems to make sense and fit
some "facts". so, what is the current status of
the blown out, undocumented, well b?
see this post: #522645
That is the transformations necessary to convert to GPS coordinates/Google maps. In addition, UTM and the reference epsilloid must be accounted for.
we are not concerned with feet per se but ten or hundreds of feet. the documents
you site indicate two separate values for well b's 'y' coordinate. that is not a transformation
issue. it is either a typo or some kind of "optional" drilling location. the documents
are flawed, why? they were prepared professionally and reviewed and approved? but they
do not clearly specify the work or project.
and ...now we have ......BK Lim.., presents.......and notice where
he indicates the blow out took place. more curious.
.
by EZYJET PILOTon Sun, 08/15/2010 - 12:53
#522482
http://phoenixrisingfromthegulf.wordpress.com/2010/08/14/diagrams-of-the...
Have a gander at this.
As far as the two Y coordinates, it looks to me to be a typo. It should read 10431494.00ft. Of course, this is also different from what you get looking at the wellbore documents or APD data. Still seems to me that this is all minor discrepancies due to transformations and nonexpert people in the videos not applying the correct transformations, reference ellipsoid, etc. A minor input variation will end up providing a large divergence in output.
APD Data:
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/fastfacts/apd/master.asp (input Bottom Lease Number: G32306)
or the Application for Bypass
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/fastfacts/apdform/apd.asp?-9391
Wellbore Location:
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/pubinfo/repcat/well/pdf/Borehole%20by%20A...
Have u seen this EXTRAORDINARY:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECXKbJ5gGRY
can it be connected to the spill and the dispersants
I think I stated months ago this would be completed by the end of August. Nice to see inspite of weather delays we are right on schedule.
Simmons dead, Story dead, GW reputation dead.
Isn't it about time ZH gave him and his enviro-junkers the boot??
Funny that you add nothing but criticism. Your trolling is painfully obvious.
Oh, sorry to bother you guys playing "make believe"..
it can be fun to play dress up as well.
Please..... re-read my response.
http://www.paranoiamagazine.com/
knock yourself out.
+10
and they always think they are soooo smart.
Drill this relief well...or.......we're doomed!
5000 feet of cured Chinese cement baby.
Poor Thad; forced to drop his drawers, bend over, and sell his hole and soul for a few dollars more. He's a liar just like his trainers, whoever they may be.
No everything is not allright! Just more fake drama to hide the real nature of the disaster. Watch very closely the lat and longs on the ROV when they drill the "relief well" but not before you've watched these videos below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPhPvQot4o8&feature=related
Seriously? This retarded nonsense is still being passed around?
1) Look up the definition of sidetracking
2)
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/PI/PDFImages/PLANS/29/29977.pdf
That's their plan referenced in the video.
Look closer on page 3.
Geodetic Datum: NAD27
Reference Ellipsoid: Clarke 1866
Projection: Universal Transverse Mercador
You need to transform NAD27 coordinates to NAD83 and then to WGS84. Failure to do so results in large discrepancies in output data.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oaf998FwQVI
The link doesn't work. Please repost.
Just highlight the link... then ctrl+C ... go to web bar .... crtl + V .. in other words copy and paste the link.. works fine. Facts.
"and they always think they are soooo smart."
ROTFLMAO.
Our best and brightest.