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Re: BP's top kill effort fails to plug Gulf oil leak
Long time lurker. This is sort up my sleeve, so I thought that I would register an account to provide some insight.
How do these oil pipes not have shut off valves?
This didn't happen in a pipeline; it happened at the blow out preventer(BOP) and riser when the rig sank. There is redundancy built into the system, and why those systems failed is critical to understanding what happened.
There were clear warnings before the blowout that the well was unstable. The mud logs(available on line) indicated that gas was in the drilling fluid. 4 times the gauges reset to zero in order to maintain a continuous stream of data. At first they were losing mud to the formation, which can be a good thing-it indicates good porosity and permeability, but then the tanks started showing mud returns out of proportion to what was being pumped.
There was concern over this as the pumps were, twice, stopped to get a "feel" for the mud. Apparently, someone thought that the systems parameters were within tolerances. So, they started pumping again. It should have been seen at that point that a blow out was underway. In fact, it is rumored that a geotech firm, recommended a "dump kill", then. That would have sealed the well, permanently. Apparently, when their recommendation wasn't followed, the firm pulled their people from the ship about 6 hours before the blowout.
The main problem here was that they cheaped out by using sea water instead of drilling mud while drilling.
They weren't cheaping out; the drilling mud has to be evacuated to set the plug before the drilling ship egresses the site. The completion crew then comes in and sets up for production. It might be a good thing that this thing happened when it did. If they had of got the plug set, when the completion crew had of drilled that plug, it would have probably killed everyone on the platform, and we would had formation pressure at the well head, ie, a lot more oil spilling.
Re the "top kill": This was really nothing more than window dressing, or wish full thinking. AFAIK, a wild well has never been bull headed(forcing mud down a flowing well). You gotta get the flow under control, then bull head.
This whole operation has been a cluster fuck! It was over 6 weeks behind schedule... probably why they didn't do a dump kill when the mud pit volumes soared. BP was paying over 500k a day to lease the drilling ship, and they were way over budget on the project. That probably explains why they wanted to get the completion crew on-site.
I have a lot more to say, but I have lost my train of thought
Re: BP's top kill effort fails to plug Gulf oil leak
A few more thoughts: to those that think that Obama is twiddling thumbs. There isn't shit the feds can do in this situation; they don't have the technical expertise, or the equipment.
Besides, do you really want the fuckers that give you public schools and the DMV to be in control? I know that I don't!
Though, they do oversee some areas, for instance, it was administrative concerns that led to the top kill being suspended. There was no way it could have worked, and it very really could have made a bad situation much worse. The top parts of the casement are 36" pipe with the production string encased within. It is clear that the blow out occurred because the final cement job on the seal between the production casing and the casement failed at the base of the well. This meant that oil and gas were flowing up the space in between(the annulus) and that that had compromised some of the seals where the production string was "hanging" from the pip above.
As the string goes deeper, the diameter becomes less, and the pipe below is "hung" from the one above. The top of the casement isn't meant to withstand the higher pressures. So, if the mud from the top kill had of found its way into the casement-at pressure-there could have been a blow out below the surface.
That would have been real bad! Same scenario as above where you have formation pressure at the surface!!!
It was the administration that stopped this dangerous window dressing that was "Top Kill".
Best hopes for now are for the LMRP(top hat) solution. It has a good chance at getting most of the oil. But rest assured, this thing will blow until it can be bottom killed when the relief well is completed.
i fixed up your formatting for your quotes 
Re: BP's top kill effort fails to plug Gulf oil leak
Welcome freak, and thanks for your insight.
Yeah, the story Tejas posted made it seem like just like office politics were going on, a head guy saying "Go go go" the outsourced 3rd party employee saying stop, it's not working right, and the boss again saying "So what, do it!!" Eventually you just give in & say Fuck it, it's his call not mine. Seems like what happened. I'm sure budgets & deadlines were a big factor.
As for the Obama remark, I just think he's come in a bit late in the game on it. He should have had a higher sense of urgency after 1 or 2 weeks, instead of 40 days. We're just posters on a Guns & Roses message board & I think we were irate over it before he was. I gotta admit if this happened when Bush was in office it would be a different story (mainly due to his Texas & Oil connections), but then again if 9/11 happened under Clinton or Gore Democrats would have never been elected President again for 20-30 years so it works both ways. I agree he or his cabinet can't do very much, but speaking out against it early on & treating it with utmost importance would be proper. Instead of bitching about the Arizona Immigration Law for 3 weeks. Its not just him though, it's alot of politions & corporations etc.. the bs we live with.
Re: BP's top kill effort fails to plug Gulf oil leak
As to your paragraph, I agree.
There is a clear indication that the BP top man was over his head. He has admitted, under penalty of purjury, that he was there to learn "deep water".
As to your second-what the fuck can to fed do other fuck up a bad situation?
Re: BP's top kill effort fails to plug Gulf oil leak
FYI, the DMV and public schools and how it's run is a STATES issue. Not a federal one. The U.S. Department of Education is there, but does not regulate education standards, nor the organization on a local level.
So that doesn't have anything to do with the White House or Obama or Bush, or any of those guys.
I believe the government is stuck in this situation. I think they should've been quicker on the draw to get involved. The only reason they didn't, was not a lack of expertise, but politics. They did not want to be seen as interfering with the clean up effort by business. A BIG business. OIL. BP. Someone who has major ties to America, and it's capitalistic interests abroad.
With that said, thanks for all your insight.
Re: BP's top kill effort fails to plug Gulf oil leak
mickronson wrote:Why dont I see someone hanging by their neck over this yet?
Because Mr. Hope and Change is presiding over the disaster.
If Reagan, Bush, or even Clinton had handled it like this, there would already be impeachment proceedings underway.
.
Impeachment for what? This is the PRIVATE SECTOR fucking up, not the government.
Now the same people who screamed "Socialism" when government stepped in to fix capitalism run amuck are screaming for Obama's head because they don't feel he is doing enough.
I've gotta ask: Which one is it?
Wanna buy my BP shares?
I'd short the hell out of them right now and then buy 'em back in a few months. Make some money on the way down and then on the way back up.
I won't buy gas from them though, fuck those cocksuckers.
