Oil on the beach at Pensacola

The railroads were built by private, capitalist companies, not the government.
 
Why not just make a steel bullet about 1" larger in diameter than the offending pipe. Strap some C4 to the base of said bullet. Lower it with cables and let those little robots keep it centered on the target. BOOM!!! Problem solved............ maybe........Not very scientific but I can't fathom why its so difficult to plug a pipe. Perhaps BP should hire Roto Rooter for some reverse engineering.

Not trying to be funny. Nothing funny about this at all. Just can't understand how we have so much technology yet can't plug a stinkin pipe. At this point we might as well consider a nuclear option, could'nt be worse than doing nothing
 
Using explosives could result in enough damage that they'd end up with a huge honking hole that could never be plugged.
 
nrb said:
The railroads were built by private, capitalist companies, not the government.
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You are right but it was actually financed by the government. In some quarters it was considered a giant scam but in the end, the country got connected by rail and opened to development. There is a great book about this. "Nothing Like It In The World" by Stephen Ambrose.

Private companies whose effort is guided by the government. It has worked before.

By the way, where is FEMA in all of this?

Concho Bill
 
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Old Gunner said:
Using explosives could result in enough damage that they'd end up with a huge honking hole that could never be plugged.
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Perhaps Old gunner, though explosives are generally used to make holes they can also be used to close holes.
Explosives really should'nt be required at all. Weld a conical funnel to that pipe. Drop a steel weight that fits the funnels dimensions into it. Have my oversized bullet(plug) the leading edge of that weight. Pound it in with the same boring/hammering drills used to create the hole in the first place if need be.
I admit this is uneducated Acme Coyote engineering at best. Still a better idea than anything the experts have tried yet IMO.

The most frustrating part of this tradegy is they've seemed to have given up trying to plug the hole. Even Wily Coyote knew dumping mud in the hole would'nt work. Maybe nonhydrated concrete with large aggregate would have had a slim chance. Mud? Good Luck with that.

My opinion
Step One: Plug the hole!!!!
Step Two: Don't even worry about it until step one is completed!

Still my uneducated opinion. They should have had step one done within 7 days at most. Keep the educated office workers and politicos at home and let the Worker Bees have a shot at it. Any efforts better than none.
 
The best move they have made so far, is to cut that mangled mess of pipe off the non working cutoff valve. Now the well is open to the cementing process, if the govenment will just get the hell out of the way. Let the people who know who to get things done, GET THINGS DONE.
 
Based on the reports of the mud weights used drilling the well the pressures generated from the well are between 12,000 and 15,000 psi. The only way to stop the blowout is the relief well. Hitting a 7" target at 16,000 feet is no easy task.
 
DDriller said:
Based on the reports of the mud weights used drilling the well the pressures generated from the well are between 12,000 and 15,000 psi. The only way to stop the blowout is the relief well. Hitting a 7" target at 16,000 feet is no easy task.
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Driller, You seem to know what you are talking about. (15,000 psi is 50% over my 12 gage shotgun). Are you saying that the relief well needs to hit the drill pipe or just below it?

Concho Bill
 
I have not heard this stated by anyone anywhere yet

Right wrong or indifferent as to who should have done what and when ,,, no one has stated the obvious here yet.

BP made one intentionally flawed failed attempt to "plug" the well.
Every thing else has been to try and "capture" this oil.

Didnt anyone notice that BP got to drill 2 more wells as relief wells without any red tape or other problems.
Why would they want to "plug" this well? They already spent millions drilling it.
If they plug it they lose the oil from it so their real goal is to figure some way to be able to fix the problem so that they will get to pump oil from it when all is done BUT they dont want it done until the other wells are finished because then they might have to stop drilling and lose those wells they were given.

Just my thoughts
 
Bill Wynne said:
Driller, You seem to know what you are talking about. (15,000 psi is 50% over my 12 gage shotgun). Are you saying that the relief well needs to hit the drill pipe or just below it?

Concho Bill
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They have to intersect and breach the casing that is in the hole. They will be trying to hit just above the zone that is producing the oil and gas. Then they will be able to stop the flow to the well head, first with heavy mud and then cement. BTW I have been in the oilfield 34 years and do directional work similar to what they are doing.
 
Plugging that well has never really been an option, in fact a restrictive cap on top only further compromises the well below the BOP. They surely have a compromised casing string (maybe burst)/ cement job below the BOP that will allow the well to blowout subterranean if they restrict it to much. In fact with all the formation sand that is surely coming out of that well at those flow rates, everything has to be wearing severely. If they were to force a subterranean blowout then they will not be able to siphon oil like they are now and all of it will end up in the gulf. The relief wells are the ONLY option to kill it. One relief well may not be able to do the job and its critical that they don't mess up that cement job. Might only get 1 shot.
 
I don't read much about this because most is written by people who do not have a clue. I do,yes they will drill through 4000 ft of mud and rock 1 mile underwater and hit a 20 inch pipe. They know what they are doing,also the same company that screwed up. This was a problem well and they cut some corners and seriously screwed up. It's done,that's life.A lot of people and companies have learned their lessons I assure you. If you think BP has anything to gain from this then you are just plain nuts.Clean up is a joke and serious waiste of money until the spilling is stopped. Might not sound good or look good, but is a reality. Just like stopping to clean up from sanding a stock every minute when you could wait until you are finished and clean it one time.There are enough laws now too probably prevent this,but were not followed.Nature is amazing it will cure itself one day with some help from man.I had a tugboat that sunk in Mobile Bay,spent 100,000 on the clean up. The Coast Guard let the spill company determine how much fuel we spilled to determine my fine. They captured 500 gals and to make it look like they did some good determined we spilled 1000 gals.Suited me,really lost 15,000 gals.True story,would not it have made sense to have let the 500 gals go where the other 14,500 gals disappeared to and not wasted the money on spill recovery. Oil ran out of a well just like this off Mexico many years ago for 9 months and nobody remembers it now. This will pass to one day.Hit BP and others involved in the wallet when it is done,it will make a difference.I assure you the more money you have the less you want to give it away.Thanks for a place for me to rant. I am not insensitve or crazy just politically incorrect and a realist. Go shoot your gun and have some fun. Stephen
 
DDriller said:
They have to intersect and breach the casing that is in the hole. They will be trying to hit just above the zone that is producing the oil and gas. Then they will be able to stop the flow to the well head, first with heavy mud and then cement. BTW I have been in the oilfield 34 years and do directional work similar to what they are doing.
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Thank you very much. I have heard much over the TV and radio that have just been meant to excite but not inform. It is encouraging to hear the truth without the photos of oily birds and people wringing their hands. I have had the pleasure of knowing oil men living in West Texas and they are usually cool and rational. I have not heard from many of them on TV lately.

Thank you Directional Driller and Rider and Stephen. John Kielly, that Scientific American article is a big educational help.

Concho Bill
 
DDriller said:
They have to intersect and breach the casing that is in the hole. They will be trying to hit just above the zone that is producing the oil and gas. Then they will be able to stop the flow to the well head, first with heavy mud and then cement. BTW I have been in the oilfield 34 years and do directional work similar to what they are doing.
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Thanks for educating us with real world experience. What are the parts and sequence of operation when drilling this type of well? Is there a concrete casement below the ocean floor that the well pipe runs through? Is it possible this casement is damaged and/or eroding away? I understand how blowout preventers work and how they are stacked above the ocean floor in various combinations but am trying to understand what is below the ocean floor.

Chino69
 
I read somewhere that this well casing design called for 7 different casing sizes/strings. Running tubular steel into a well, is much more complicated than running piping above ground. It will encounter pressures at the bottom of the well that will try to collapse it and pressures at the surface that will try to burst it. All these plumbers/backyard mechanics that think they know how to plug that well are distractions for the people that know what they are doing. Some of the brightest people in ANY industry or working on this problem and they will not quit until it is solved. It's terrible to ever have this kind of accident and it comes down to trying to save money/time to ensure that producing that well is economically feasible. When oil prices climbs back to over $150/bbl this kind of deep water drilling will be much more common practice. When it gets to over $500/bbl nobody will worry about the gulf.

The following is a good paper on the shortcuts that led to the blowout. This isn't the whole story but it is a start.

http://energycommerce.house.gov/documents/20100614/Hayward.BP.2010.6.14.pdf
 
H."Snuffy"Smith said:
I said two months ago...now Huckabee agrees. As a "leader" he should have called in the CEOs and oil ENGINEERS from all the major companies, pounded on a desk and said "I want this damn thing fixed, I want all the best input from you....DAMN it )
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And they would just laugh at him, and there is damn little he can do about it.


All the oil cos. are in this and they should be working tp protect ALL OF OUR interests. Noo, he's trying to decide to use a 9 iron or a maybe a 6 iron. I've lived through every president since FDR.....NONE as incapable as this one.
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Such stupid statements are really not going to solve the problem are they? You would, I'm sure, be happy for a big federal tax increase to keep a fleet of oil megadisaster people and equipment on hand to clean up after these little corporate accidents - yeah right....
 
According to an article in today's Wash. Times, there are approximately 2,000 oil skimming boats here in the US, but only 20 are in service. In the same article, 17 nations volunteered to provide help. All were refused. Other emergency methods such as burning were likewise refused. Anyone else see a pattern here?
Bob
 
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