Oil Slick Stuff

Sort by newest Sort by date
I find it hard to understand about the BOP not working, even now..(Remember, I pointed out in the beginning that this device was in place on all underwater oil wells, before anybody even mentioned it failing on this rig)..The reasons I read that it failed was due mostly in part to some battery pack being low...why don't they re-energize this and operate it like it is suppose to work? But surely there is manual valves they can turn to shut it off...I guess I don't know the whole story..:confused:
 
Buster, I too am more than a little mystified about all this. Were the blow out protections actually in place? Did they malfunction? Was this alleged battery the only source of power? Where was this alleged battery? Why was it not replaced? Did the Feds actually monitor or inspect the rig? How did this happen on Obama's watch? So many questions.

The Obama watch thing is irrevelent but I just could not resist. Please forgive me.
 
Buster said:
I find it hard to understand about the BOP not working, even now..(Remember, I pointed out in the beginning that this device was in place on all underwater oil wells, before anybody even mentioned it failing on this rig)..The reasons I read that it failed was due mostly in part to some battery pack being low...why don't they re-energize this and operate it like it is suppose to work? But surely there is manual valves they can turn to shut it off...I guess I don't know the whole story..:confused:
Click to expand...

This is what I read (I don't remember exactly where) about two weeks ago. I think part of this came from the Congressional Testimony submitted as part of a hearing. Not sure exactly where, but I'll try and go out and find the source material where I read this:

The BOP had wires and two independent circuits to it that are supposed to be able to trigger the device. Four weeks before the accident, one of the two circuits (Circuit #1) failed. It was documented in a test log, that one entire circuit path was faulty. The platform company wanted to stop drilling and replace the circuit wires. BP overruled them and told them to keep drilling. There was not a rule in place that said both circuits must be working, so BP's order stood.

The faulty circuit #1 was detected during a routine test four weeks before the accident.

During that test, the circuit was energized to test the clamping off ability of the BOP. Circuit #1 had no effect at all- open circuit. Circuit #2 activated as it was supposed to during the test. However, instead of simply squeezing around the pipe, when Circuit #2 was activated, there was a piece of pipe traveling through the BOP at the time, and 14 feet of that pipe moved up and down while the clamping pressure was on. It resulted in some kind of a rubber seal within the BOP being broken up and destroyed. Later that same day (four weeks prior to the accident) large chunks of blank rubber seal were found coming out of the top of the well on board the platform. A guy spotted the chunks of material coming out of the well, along with the fluid that normally is in place, and reported it to the platform operator. However, the BP supervisor on the scene told the person spotting the pieces of rubber seal coming up- "Don't worry about it, we have a well to drill..." That guy reported it to others on the platform, and they recorded it in the well log that large black pieces of rubber had come out.

So, to make a long story short-

The BOP had a bad circuit #1. During testing, circuit #2 was triggered, and broke the seal because there was a pipe inside the well passing through at the time #2 was being tested. BP knew there was a problem, but insisted on keeping drilling, rather than stopping to replace the BOP, because, in part, they were already two weeks or more behind schedule.

Further, when they were cementing at the end, the well failed the cement tests. The company doing the cementing was not happy with the test results, and wanted to reapply more cement to the job. There was reportedly an argument between the cementing engineer, and the BP supervisor. In the end, they either redid the test, or simply accepted the initial test numbers as being suitable despite what the cementing engineer said.
 
Equipment failed, the rig exploded killing 11 workers, it sunk and crumpled the 21" line 5,000 down to the well head, there were 3 leaks. I think they should have capped the thing 3 weeks ago.:suspicious:
 
Why don't they send down a couple of divers to turn off the valve in one of these?

2913351705_ec81392d1c.jpg
 
The guy who last week said the well could be pumping as much at 100,000 barrels a day, now is revising his estimates.

Now that more video has become available, and since BP has put numbers out on how much they are collecting, the scientists are reworking their numbers. They don't have a number done yet, but some are saying 15,000 to 30,000 may be more accurate.

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=93631


Even if it's only 15,000 barrels a day, it is already double the amount of oil spilled in the Exxon Valdez accident from 1989. That one was a total of 250,000 barrels.

It may be months before they are able to cap it.

Rigzone says they may try a topkill--dumping mud into the BOP to try and seal it-- as early as Tuesday-
http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=93655
 
So when they put that top hat thing on and the crystals formed...did that thing leak?
There was a big one that failed and a smaller one that didn't work either.

Why didn't they just leave that thing on there to shut off the flow?
 
KevinD said:
So when they put that top hat thing on and the crystals formed...did that thing leak?
There was a big one that failed and a smaller one that didn't work either.

Why didn't they just leave that thing on there to shut off the flow?
Click to expand...
If nothing was being pumped out, because of the clog then YES, it would still leak the same amount because there were two splits in the sides of the unit so it could straddle the leaking pipe. These splits were just covered with heavy rubber flaps. :cool:
 
Last edited:
Estimates, Estimates, Doesn't anyone know the real deal?:nuts:

Updated May 24, 2010
WRAPUP 3-Pressure piles on BP as Gulf spill widens

Reuters
May 24, 2010

* BP slashes oil capture estimates for spill
* Obama team, Senate delegation to inspect Gulf response
* BP share price falls more than 3 percent

By Matthew Bigg

VENICE, La, May 24 (Reuters) - BP sharply reduced its estimate on Monday of how much oil it is siphoning off from a ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico as Washington kept the pressure on the energy giant over the environmental debacle.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2010/05/24/wrapup-pressure-piles-bp-gulf-spill-widens-1683420778/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxbusiness%2Fpersonal_finance+%28Text++-+Personal+Finance%29
 
Last edited:
Let's hope they can cap this monster tomorrow or Wednesday, should have done it in the first place!!:mad:

Updated May 24, 2010
BP's Ability to Stop Gulf Leak Questioned as Crude Oil Seeps Further Into Marshes

Associated Press

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill seeped miles deeper into Louisiana's fragile marshes, making it tougher to clean up or to rescue wildlife like the brown pelican, as the federal government questioned whether BP will be able plug its blown-out well on the seabed. [more]
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/05/24/bps-ability-stop-gulf-leak-questioned-crude-oil-seeps-marshes/
 
Sad, sad day for oil Exploration indeed...Aside from the mess...Look at all that oil that has been wasted...Imagine the amount of oil that they tapped in to that could of went into production...and still yet the remaining OIL to be used from this well, which now will be capped (hopefully sooner rather than later)....All this still proves that the oil is there and attainable...so long as it is done safely and correctly, which further removes US from the dependence on OPEC...Let's not lose sight of that.


Not trying to sound cold..But taking my personal emotion out of this accident and the hell it paid on the environment...I am truely sickened by this on several levels.
 
Buster said:
Sad, sad day for oil Exploration indeed...Aside from the mess...Look at all that oil that has been wasted...Imagine the amount of oil that they tapped into that could went into production...and still remaining to be used from this well which now ill be capped (hopefully sooner rather than later)....All this still proves that the oil is there and attainable...so long as it is done safely and correctly, which further removes the dependence on OPEC...Let's not lose sight of that.

Not trying to sound cold..But taking my personal emotion out of this accident and the hell it pays on the environment.
Click to expand...
I agree with you Buster, this is bad, The government needs to make the Off Shore Drilling Companies process this oil as if is in the Continental USA then it would have to be refined here and sold here, that would make Gas and Oil cheaper to us and would not go over seas to who knows who!!
Within 200 N. Miles of the coast should be considered USA property. :nuts:
 
This seems reasonable to me, lots of jobs on hold for locals that work Oil Rigs. Shallow Water Drilling is much safer than Deep Water Drilling.

Senators: Lift Moratorium on New Shallow Drilling
Senator Mary Landrieu
|
Monday, May 24, 2010

Inc_DWHoriz_Hdr.jpg

In a letter to U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., urged the Obama Administration to exclude shallow water platforms from its moratorium on issuing new offshore drilling permits. The Department of the Interior's (DOI) moratorium will remain in place until the conclusion of the investigation into the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig.
http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=93685&hmpn=1
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top