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'That work is underway, but could take another 60 days or more to complete. Using the higher estimates, by then up to another 1.2 million barrels of oil could have leaked out, putting the total at nearly 2 million barrels. The Exxon Valdez spilled 257,000 barrels. At the current rate, emptying the entire Macondo deposit would take just over 7 years.'
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The devastation to the Gulf area would be beyond catastrophic or so it seems to me.
The Ixtoc I spilled over 3 million barrels into the Gulf of Mexico before it was stopped. However, I believe that well simply collapsed and was not successfully stopped by the Mexicans.
Last edited by Frankie117; 05-29-2010 at 04:40 PM..
I heard that BP could just blow up the well to stop the leak but that they don't want to do that because it would render the well useless permanently. Not sure if there's any merit to the story though.
BP's "top kill" attempt to stop the flow of oil from a ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico failed, the company's chief operating officer said Saturday.
I had to get Halliburton to control a 100 GPM water well once. (not one I drilled) That was a night mare. And at least we could see the wellhead.
I can't image how hard this oil well would be to control.
Since your handle is Driller1, and from other posts, I'm guessing you are quite knowledgeable in the area of drilling... As a complete layman I'm under the impression that such deep wells are fairly new and untested so wouldn't it have been more than a bit prudent to have drilled a relief well "just in case" long before the thing even went into operation considering the problems of deep water?
Again, I know almost nothing about oil wells but I do know that at a mile deep you're dealing with roughly 150 atmospheres pushing to fill that hole and though hopeful, I was wondering how simply packing mud would work with so much compressed water trying to displace a much less dense liquid.
I also wondered whether a concrete cap poured and set at 1 atmosphere would actually be heavy enough at 150 atmospheres to do anything at all. I realize that concrete may not be in your area of expertise but if you know anything about that aspect, I'd certainly be interested.
I heard that BP could just blow up the well to stop the leak but that they don't want to do that because it would render the well useless permanently. Not sure if there's any merit to the story though.
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Now What?
