BP MC252 well gushing oil – environmental disaster video courtesy of British Petroleum
Later today, BP is expected to try to reduce the flow of oil from their MC252 well by pumping heavy drilling fluids into the pipe.
Throughout the extended top kill procedure – which may take up to two days to complete – very significant changes in the appearance of the flows at the seabed may be expected. These will not provide a reliable indicator of the overall progress, or success or failure, of the top kill operation as a whole. BP will report on the progress of the operation as appropriate and on its outcome when complete.
You can watch the procedure live on the BP web site:
click here for live video. This is what it looked like earlier this morning:
WUWT has some very smart readers. How would you close the pipe? Hopefully you can do better than this :
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thoughts after following this thread – just questions/ideas for the experts –
1. In the subsea response – Riser Insertion Tube Tool on BP’s web site they discuss how they need ‘to minimize the formation of gas hydrates’ in order to recover the leaking hydrocarbons. Couldn’t they instead try to maximize the formation of gas hydrates in the kink where it is leaking?
2. Also read somewhere about the necessity use heat to keep the flow up – what about making (a) cooling collar(s) somewhere below the leak and choking off the flow that way?
In light of the BP oil calamity it’s quite obvious that something must be done, and fast, if we are to save our world from corporations that would prefer to place huge profits above that of our environmental and financial welfare.
As large corporations gobble up smaller corporations in an attempt to seize an even bigger piece of the global economic pie, it seems that businesses have been allowed to grow, unfettered, into unwieldy corporate behemoths (a.k.a., British Petroleum) with little, if any, regulations regarding their obligations to national sovereignties or allegiances.
Maybe it’s just me, but I believe that if a corporation begins its “life” in a particular country, than it has an obligation to that country and its people: due in part to the patronage of its citizens throughout the years in helping that corporation to grow. When I hear about American businesses pulling up stakes and moving to other countries in lieu of cheaper labor and supplies elsewhere, I feel both embarrassed and betrayed. (They would be nothing if it weren’t for people like you and me. After all, we purchased their services, time and time again, fostering them constantly by giving them the opportunity to flourish. Our final reward for all our efforts? Millions of fellow Americans out of work, all desperately hoping that their unemployment benefits never run out.)
I agree that the bad news is not just happening here in America, but around the globe. I blame that on the evolution of the business model: over the years, it has been compressed into a precise science in an effort to squeeze every last drop of profit out of the proverbial “bottom-line.” I began to notice the change in the late 1970’s when I was in my teens. Back then, it was a different world for me and I didn’t seem to care too much. Today however, it is a different story.
What can we collectively do as Americans?
Contact your representatives in the House and Senate. Let them know that
big business should be regulated and ask them to enact laws to:
1.Ensure that all corporations “born” within the United States deter from any and all actions that would adversely affect our country;
2.Place high tariffs on imports from American businesses that move their bases of operations (not to mention our jobs) to other regions of the world;
3.Work to limit their corporate power and influence in Washington D.C. by passing laws whereby politicians, found to have ties with said corporations or corporate lobbyists resign.
4.Endeavor to ban all corporate favors and corporate lobbyists from Washington D.C.
Essentially, it’s up to us to fashion our own future. If we don’t, rest assured that someone, or some corporation will.
•(I know that BP was not born and reared here in the United States. I was merely using it as a reference as to what corporations are capable of doing if left to their own devices.)
1. define it.
3. impossible when you have gov’t agencies who’s job it is to both regulate AND encourage (the MMS brings billions into the US Treasury in royalties every year). FAA has the same issue: regulation AND support of the industry. Agriculture: same. FDA: same.
I think we need less regulation, not more. BP lobbied years ago to have spill liability limited so that they would not face bankruptcy in the face of a tragedy just like this one. With the risk of losing everything, perhaps they would have taken more steps to ensure the safety of their operation.
We, as humans, have chosen to reap the benefits of powering our economies with oil. Getting oil has risks. If you legislate away ALL risk, there will be nothing left. You’ll be back to horses and buggies. Of course, then you’ll have to legislate how to deal with millions pounds of manure and hundreds of thousands of dead horse carcasses in the streets. So I guess we’ll be back to walking. Oh, wait….
Well, I have some business experience selling brownies door-to-door when I was a kid. But from what little business acumen I garnered there, it seems to me the fatal problem with this business model was embodied in the congressional hearings with CEO’s from each of the three business players playing the blame game. It would have been a perfect three-ring circle of blame, each pointing the finger at the guy next to him, except that would have omitted the guiltiest party of all. (The salacious carryings-on at the local levels of the MMM have been news here in Denver for several years).
If buck-passing in the aftermath of the crisis is this bad, one can only imagine what it was like in the early planning and drilling stages of the operation. Only now, a month after the event, are some real people being identified who were in authority. See “There Was Nobody in Charge”, Friday’s Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704113504575264721101985024.html
A CEO (I believe from Transocean) commented that drilling was like building a house. There are owners, then there are the operators and contractors on the job. Ultimately, he said, it’s the owner who needs to make the decisions. He meant BP, but I think the U.S. Government was the real absentee landlord.
Counting Salazar (Interior) and working your way down through the various levels including MMS, all the way down to the lowest deck hand, it would be interesting to know how many layers of managers, contractors, sub-contractors, and sub-sub-contractors were actually paying somebody else to do something to get oil out of that field.
It’s little wonder that the young woman from the rig who placed the “Mayday” call felt there was nobody in charge.
I hope I’m not posting my questions and suggestions too late for this topic…
Can someone smart and knowledgeable answer me a couple of questions?
Cheifly, I’m wondering about the pressure of all the ocean water vs that coming out of the leak. Since pressure flows from highest to lowest until it is equal, is it too unrealistic to think that in good time this leak will solve itself?
I’ve been wondering about this pretty much since day one. Thing is, what BP is doing has a lot of uncertainties. They could very well cause the hole to blow open more widely. So why not just take the risk of letting pressure equalize in it’s own time, and focus instead on getting that relief well drilled, while dealing with ongoing pollution concerns? At the very least, BP wouldn’t be risking throwing good money after bad while quite possibly making the leak worse.
That’s what I think. Is there any good reason(s) why this would be a bad idea????
Interesting what kadaka said above. Just read this in a news story:
Hayward said that late Thursday afternoon and into the night BP pumped a “junk shot” — more solid materials like shredded rubber and golf balls — into the blowout preventer to add heft.
“We have some indications of partial bridging which is good news,” Hayward told CNN on Friday.
Bill Parsons May 28, 2010 at 11:27 am: “A CEO (I believe from Transocean) commented that drilling was like building a house. There are owners, then there are the operators and contractors on the job. Ultimately, he said, it’s the owner who needs to make the decisions. He meant BP, but I think the U.S. Government was the real absentee landlord.”
Actually, it’s the land owners, as in those who would be most immediately affected in the event of an accident. ie, All the people along the coastline. Our rights as property owners used to confer upon all of us the power to ask questions, raise objections, and make demands for compensation well ahead of time in order to decide if a venture like this would be done at all, or at least done at this scope. We have a right, indeed an obligation to have a say what goes on in our backyards.
So yes, the U.S. Government was absent from the decision-making process. It was left to agencies, politicians, and a corporation (that will always convince itself that something is a good idea, with the politicians and agencies taking their word for it), not land owners of limited means who will be affected by this for years to come.
For all the finger-pointing going on, no one mentions this at all and that’s what gets me the most. For all that people say that we as free people would only do things far worse than possibily imaginable, our own government failed to protect us by making decisions that we ourselves would not have made if we knew what was going on.
I find it difficult to understand how the mud, no matter how much heavier (specific gravity) it is than the crude oil, can be forced to flow down the hole while there is such a large volumetric flow upward and in the opposite direction. Won’t most of the mud be swept upward through the BOP and out the broken riser pipe? Why didn’t they try the “junk shot” first in an attempt to restrict the crude flowing upward through the BOP?
In any case there is one aspect of this disaster for which we should be thankful. The sunken drill ship derelict did not settle on the bottom atop the BOP, but apparently drifted away when its station-keeping thrusters failed soon after the initial gas explosion. The wreckage is reported to rest on the bottom more than a half-mile away, allowing clear unencumbered access to the BOP.
@Bob paglee: The pressure of the mud being pumped into the well is greater than the pressure of the oil and gas flowing out of the well. The net effect is to drive the oil in the well bore back into the producing formation. It’s not quite that simple, some of the oil can escape past the heavier mud, and some of the mud goes up and out of the riser. But ultimately, with enough mud in the well bore, the oil and gas flow stops completely and the mud pump can be turned off.
Another way to think of it is that lithostatic pressure, on average, increases by 0.7 psi for every foot of well depth. If you have a hole with a cross-section of one square inch, you only need mud that weighs more than 0.7 pounds per foot of column. If you can fill the entire well bore, things will be in equilibrium. This is also the case during drilling, barring unforeseen changes in formation pressure.
They considered a junk shot prior to starting top kill, but obviously decided against it. We don’t know why. They did a junk shot today, instead. My guess is that they are being super cautious because they do not want to cause damage to the casing. If it springs a leak, they are in even more serious trouble. That could also explain the 16-hour gap in pumping mud. They have to know as much as possible about the conditions in the well so they can proceed safely. I found it encouraging that during the lull, the leak continued to be light brown. That means that mud, not oil, was coming up and confirms that the top kill was working. The alternative was that the mud was going into a formation high above the producing zone, probably through a crack in the casing.
Benjamin says:
May 28, 2010 at 11:47 am
I hope I’m not posting my questions and suggestions too late for this topic…
Can someone smart and knowledgeable answer me a couple of questions?
Cheifly, I’m wondering about the pressure of all the ocean water vs that coming out of the leak. Since pressure flows from highest to lowest until it is equal, is it too unrealistic to think that in good time this leak will solve itself?
Once again, I can speak from great experience. I switched out a toiled flush valve without any great mishaps, but it was touch-and-go. Nevertheless…
How much of this would end up in the gulf I don’t know, but Les Johnson’s comment above suggests it isn’t very good news. Under compression, it’s smaller. The well pipe is allowing it to expand, like air from a deflating balloon. My guess anyway.
Anyone know of a live webcam operation at the surface, where gas is being burned?
DCC –
thanx for clearing that up.
I doubt much can be determined by watching the plume from the riser, of volume, pressure or makeup.
“Data on the hydrocarbons recovered to date suggests that the proportion of gas in the plume exiting the riser is, on average, approximately 50 percent.”
http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=93617
Video of the flare (although from May 19th):
To attempt to answer the pressure question:
Oil down in the ground is under pressure from all the rock weight above it. (and/or water forcing it up from below, or maybe a nautural gas cap applying pressure from above. whatever. it’s under pressure.) Poke a hole in it and the oil comes out. This is what we have today.
As the fluid leaves, the pressure drops. Over time the pressure will drop to zero and you then have to pump out the oil. (managing this pressure drop is critical, which is why the Sauds are suffering the end of the era of “easy” oil. I encourage you to read “Twilight in the Desert.” It’s a horror story, but it’s not fiction). How long it takes for the pressure to drop is mostly a function of how much oil is in the resevoir and how fast you are taking it out.
So, yes the leak will eventually resolve itself when bottom pressure falls below ocean water pressure at that depth. That’ll take about 30 years, give or take.
It’s unlikely that they’ll make the problem worse unless they damage the BOP or surface casing leaving no alternative but to wait for the relief wells. This is why they are being cautious. Given the magnitude of the environmental disaster, they probably won’t stop trying until the relief wells get there. Even if they have to pump mud for 90 days.
@Benjamin who ask: “I’m wondering about the pressure of all the ocean water vs that coming out of the leak. … is it too unrealistic to think that in good time this leak will solve itself?”
Probably not “in good time.” All oil wells lose pressure as they are produced, but it can take decades for this well to drop to hydrostatic. If we assume it’s leaking at 20,000 bbls/day, that’s $1.5 million lost per day, half a billion a year. Couple that with the environmental damage and it is unacceptable to let it continue to leak.
Mark,
Also this is an exploratory well, a “wildcat”. Not much practical knowledge available as to what is down there.
Mark Wagner says:
May 28, 2010 at 3:12 pm
“Even if they have to pump mud for 90 days.”
Remember the two relief wells also need mud (plus all others), and pumping escaping mud takes loads more than drilling. I seem to recall someone a couple days ago reporting they had to shut pumping down to wait on another supply ship. There may easily not be enough to supply continuous pumping. And this gambit comes with risks as well. They can install another bop, it’s their third backup if others fail. I don’t understand why the relief wells are being touted as the only sure-fire solution. What if they blow?
The casing history of this well has never been fully explained, as far as I know. The original casing schematic showed 22″ surface casing and something like 10″ at depth. That was during drilling. That casing is not necessarily continuous; it’s only necessary where drilling mud could leak into a formation or vice versa. Then they set production casing, apparently 9 5/8″. Production casing is continuous from the producing formation to the surface. They thought they had cemented it in place.
What happened next is fuzzy. They were “displacing the drilling mud with water” in preparation to capping the well and moving the rig to another site. It is not at all clear that they plugged the well first; initial reports said they had not. Nor is it clear if they removed the mud from both the production casing and the annulus around it. All we know is that the cement job failed, the mud could no longer counter the pressure, and the well began producing oil and gas “outside the casing.” I am assuming that means outside the production casing because the surface seal with the BOP was apparently not compromised.
Lots of unanswered questions here. Can anyone fill in some gaps?
Instead of constantly focusing everyone’s attention
just looking at that lil ol hol-
which kinda makes us forget what is happening to that oil–
let’s look at the great big picture–
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/realtime/single.php?T101481625
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/realtime/single.php?2010148/crefl1_143.A2010148162500-2010148163000.500m.jpg
The entire gulf is now covered by the glinty sheen of oil
+ dispersant oil mix–
yes that is oil -not some rogue optical effect —
it is caused by oil and also dispersant mixed with oil particles
and very very smooth calm water(oil on troubled waters)–
how can we be sure?–
simple–just look at these 50 other modis pictures–
the sheen appears nowhere else in the world–
and you will notice that the florida coast shallows and
florida keys and yucatan and cuba have lost that
beautiful blue green
color they once had(bahamas shallows
are still blue green as IS THE REMAINDER OF THE TROPICAL WORLD)
The sheen is from the oil –
Also there are numerous irregular black areas
of deep oil visible in the closeups (if it was surface oil it would glint and not appear black)–
fla yucatan cuba may 28
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/realtime/single.php?T101481625
close up is not always available–
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/realtime/single.php?2010148/crefl1_143.A2010148162500-2010148163000.500m.jpg
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/realtime/single.php?2010148/crefl1_143.A2010148162500-2010148163000.1km.jpg
pics prior to spill–
fla -march- day 58
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/realtime/single.php?2010068/crefl1_143.A2010068162500-2010068163000.500m.jpg
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/realtime/single.php?2010068/crefl1_143.A2010068162500-2010068163000.2km.jpg
yucatan march day 77-
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/realtime/single.php?2010077/crefl1_143.A2010077162000-2010077162500.2km.jpg
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/realtime/single.php?2010077/crefl1_143.A2010077162000-2010077162500.500m.jpg
florida feb day 42
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/realtime/single.php?2010042/crefl1_143.A2010042154500-2010042155000.2km.jpg
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/realtime/single.php?2010042/crefl1_143.A2010042154500-2010042155000.500m.jpg
reamainder of the oceans–
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/realtime/?calendar
Every country has satellite pics available–
The world is fully aware of the vast extent of this
catastroophe in contrast to usa media propaganda.
only in usa are these pics deflected
from the public–
http://sfawbn.com/news/?p=1923
http://iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/article/225633
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=128113
“There’s Another Leak, Much Bigger, 5 to 6 Miles Away”
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/05/prominent-oil-industry-insider-theres.html
http://monkeyfister.blogspot.com/2010/05/major-change-down-below.html
ooops
http://www.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=stream4
[snip]
Here’s a casing/cementing diagram that explains another possible problem (aside from the cement job.)
http://tinyurl.com/365oay7
It comes from the news article at http://tinyurl.com/2dbrc25
“There’s Another Leak, Much Bigger, 5 to 6 Miles Away”
It’s not credible that something that far away is related to the BP spill. The story is likely false.
It may be exploratory, but if it’s blowing 15,000 bbls per day wide open, it’s got enough oil it ain’t gonna blow itself out in a few weeks. That’s a “purty guud” well.
My concern earlier was that if cement failed (or if the string corkscrewd in, or the casing rattled around during the pressure spike or name your catastrophe here), they may be pumping mud into rock rather than into the wellbore. Having gotten nothing but mud while they pressured down is a good sign – mud outside the casing wouldn’t come back; they would have gotten oil. So I would think that the outer casing is intact.
Therefore, it would seem that if they pump long enough they will eventually get enough mud in to get it under control.
DCC, those details have been notably absent. I’m sure somewhere in some office is a computer with all those details, but I haven’t seen ’em. It would certainly shed light on the exact magnitude of the problem. I imagine that those details are being intentionally withheld pending the future litigation.
Nice diagram. I’ve never seen that many tapered joints on casing. Is that typical of deep water rigs? Or are they trying something new? I would imagine it makes seating/centering/sealing …uhm…”problematic.” O-rings? Oboy.
WSJ has a very poignant story on what likely happened aboard the Deep Horizon when the natural gas came up & blew:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704113504575264721101985024.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read
Quite remarkable that this ship was limited to 11 men lost….
Well, (cough), something seems to have happened. The sub that had been providing the live video has surfaced after some curious goings on. No other subs have as yet substituted their video feed. Yet Allen wanted continuous coverage. The bop may have sprang a leak, or the well might have kicked and opened up and blew stuff everywhere. There were risks associated with pressuring the hole at the bop. As I watched the video earlier, after things cleared somewhat it appeared the sub had disengaged and was hovering around for a while till it began to surface. Chunks of what appeared to be bits of mud floated up along with what looked like pieces of rope and other debris, for some thousand feet. The sub is now at the surface. It could have been returned as a result of damage. Hopefully we won’t wake up to news that the flow is increased significantly with no hope of being contained.
Looks like they are having problems with the top kill, so they are going for the junk shot:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7027525.html
My guess is that the BOP assembly is very badly damaged, let’s see how this goes…