BP oil leak: Fallen Deepwater Horizon was tapping second largest oil deposit in the world
If there is a single aspect to the dangers of the BP oil leak, it lies in the question CEO Tony Hayward and other BP executives have been avoiding since the first drop of oil went rogue: How much oil is leaking?
The real answer is - more than anyone wants to admit, because the well holds enough oil to make Saudi Arabian drillers jealous.
The oil field the Deepwater Horizon had tapped is said to be the second largest deposit in the world. Viewzone.com reports, “The site covers an estimated 25,000 square miles, extending from the inlands of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Texas. “
The oil deposit is so large, it could produce 500,000 barrels of a day for more than a decade.
Part of the reason the well exploded is because the site also contains large deposits of natural gas.
Speculation as to why BP has tried to hide the amount of oil spilling may be two-fold. There are legal issues and lawsuits in the works. The less said by BP now, the better it may play out for them in the future. The other, more alarming aspect, is the event of total wellhead failure before relief wells are completed in August.
Considering the size of the deposit, if BP loses control of the flow completely, the scope of the disaster would be unfathomable.
The New York Times has reported that scientists suspect the leak is thousands of times larger than what BP has been reporting. Some estimates are as high as one million gallons a day.
Rock particles, gas and oil escaping under pressure are pushing against the capstone on the sea floor that surrounds the actual well. If it collapses, the canyon of oil will escape with a vengeance.
Neither BP nor anyone else wants to say what will happen it the wellhead gives way or the sea floor around it caves in. All anyone is certain of is that the worst case scenario is the one everyone wants to avoid.
Photo/top: youtube video clip
Comments
People can call names whoever they want, but they forget one thing: Our economy is oil based. Political and economical constraints prevent to flip to sustainable and safer sources of energy (we have for a while). Hence, no power on earth (probably not even God) can prevent oil companies to deplete all fossile fuel resources during the next decades. Accidents happen. In a neo-capitalistic system with maximized profits, we have to live with man-made disasters too. So simple is that. The good news are, when all oil deposits will be depleted, humanity will extinct itself in cruel nuclear wars for the last remaining resources. This way, earth will be geiven a second chance to regenerate its resources for the next millions of years. Maybe a future humanity V2.0 will do it better.
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I work in the oilfield and know how to stop these leaks, have emailed BP and the press to many email addresses without response. All they have to do is contact me and get my plan. This has no failure. They were pretty close with the first attempt just a little off. These leaks could have been stopped by now, weeks ago. Without complication or fear of a blow out.
The terrorist attack by BP on America should not go unpunished. These incompetant people and clueless company should be classified as an enemy combatant and sent to Guantanamo for daily waterboarding until they confess then introduced to the Cuban firing squad (George Bush solution). All BP assests should be seized by our military and NASA should takeover the job of stopping the oil leaks.
Or as Ms. Palin would say - "Drill, baby! Drill!"
Considering the amount of pressure required to overcome the pressure of 5,000ft of seawater boggles the mind. I believe that BP knowingly took a big risk with the well gambling the planet on the payoff. Hearing phrases such as "This has never been tried at such depth." or "This is new territory for us." is only code for "We really aren't sure how to stop this." BP is not an inept company. This time they are really challenged and are not certain of anything,hence their avoidance. I would hope for the better but prepare for the worse.
Could you possibly have cited a less credible source?
this situation is, yes, caused by bp, but the root of the problem lies in politicians such as Sarah Palin or John McCain. Not only do these people not care about the environment but they also only care about two things, money and power. Obama has done many good things but I would still like to see more stringent policies regarding ocean drilling
Revelation 16:
The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a dead man, and every living thing died that was in the sea.
It's real simple.... I nominate Billy Nungesser for President of the usa. He is the ONLY ONE to show true leadership. Spread the word..... Billy for PRESIDENT
I too wrote to BP, about using nanosponges, which seems like a good solution, but they wrote back saying no deal. Probably too 'expensive' for them. Here is the link: www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2009/november/111109091.asp
If oil companies weren't forced off the shelf to drill in such extreme depths by the environmental wackos and their lobyists in gov't, this problem would have been over in 24 hours... in only in a few hundred feet of water on the shelf. BP has absolutely
no PR or financial intersest in prolonging this disaster....though I'm sorry to say I can't be that sure about
our administration.
Time to invest a few billion in solar power, maybe?
BP was so involved to drill out here they did it illegally by buying politicians wake up!! has nothing to do with greenies its greed How much did Sarah Palin gets for every time she promoted drill baby drill? And why is it BP owns US oil worth 2 to 4 trillion dollars. Isnt that our oil?
Scott Heron - You got a solution don't wait to be asked. Publish it. Or are you waiting for payment?
Excellent post, I agree with you.
Maryann,
You have got to be kidding. There is almost nothing factual in this story, except perhaps that it was BP's project. Is this what passes for journalism in Spokane?
This field might have had 100 million barrels. This is not a giant field. For deepwater, it was barely worth doing. It would rank in the top 100 fields, not to mention #2. Ghawar, the largest, has produced 60 BILLION barrels.
1 million gallons per day is a lot of oil, but it is only 24 thousand barrels. They actually think twice that might be leaking, but to say that it is a thousand times more that they thought would mean that they only guessed 24 barrels per day.
If you want more reliable information, try theoildrum.com and avoid sites like Viewzone.
The failed BP well in the Gulf is reported to have a drill depth
of approx 5000', yet I have seen reports that suggest the total depth drilled is between 28,000' and 35,000'. Russia has drilled wells to a depth of over 40,000' and had the common sense to drill them on land. When oil was struck it was it was unlike oil from conventional wells and was under extreme pressure and very, very toxic. Could anyone offer additional information ?
Spoke with a BP employee today and they are positive that BP America will declare bankrupcy and peel off the North American refineries/interests and try to sell them off within 2 months. Apparently the bore hole is without the casing now and the flow of oil is unimpeded about 8 miles from the blow out preventer that we see on TV. With the cycle of hurricanes starting the flow will be unimpeded and the skimming and booming will be useless for the next three months or so. What this person ws really scared of is the calls for nuking the bore hole. She said that this would not be advisable due to the size of the methane bubble in solution around the well head area and the presence of the methyl hydrate resevoirs in the sub surface strata.
Relief wells at 50,000 psi ( YES - 50,000 psi ); equals
arranging the deck chairs on the TITANIC !
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