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Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks - The Macondo 252 well is now officially DEAD

Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

BP Sets Out Enhancements to LMRP Containment Strategy to Keep Oil Out of Gulf - 31 May

Release date: 31 May 2010

BP announced today that, after extensive consultation with National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen and other members of the Federal government, it plans to further enhance the lower marine riser package (?LMRP?) containment system currently scheduled to be deployed this week with further measures that are expected to keep additional oil out of the Gulf of Mexico.

The additional steps announced today will follow placement of the LMRP containment cap, which is expected this week. Preparations for these additional planned enhancements are already underway.
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The first planned addition is intended to use the hoses and manifold that were deployed for the ?top kill? operation to take oil and gas from the failed Deepwater Horizon blow-out preventer (BOP) through a separate riser to an intervention vessel on the surface, in addition to the LMRP cap system.

This system, which currently is expected to be available for deployment in mid-June, is intended to increase the overall efficiency of the containment operation by possibly increasing the amount of oil and gas flow that can be captured from the well.

It is anticipated that the next planned operation will provide a more permanent system by directing oil and gas to a new free-standing riser ending approximately 300 feet below sea level. A flexible hose then will be attached to a containment vessel. This long-term option is designed to permit the system to more effectively disconnect and reconnect the riser to provide the greatest flexibility for operations during a hurricane.

Implementation of this enhancement is expected in late June or early July.
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?BP?s priority is to keep as much oil as we can from causing additional harm to the Gulf, the shoreline and the people of the region,? said BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward. ?This planned multi-step containment strategy is our best option for achieving this as we work hard towards completing the relief wells that will kill this well completely. Our teams have been working closely with the Federal government, and I have discussed this plan personally with Admiral Allen. I hope we will see progress with these containment procedures in the coming days.?
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The strategy and specific containment plans have been extensively reviewed by BP?s scientific and engineering team together with a team of government scientists assembled by Secretaries Ken Salazar and Stephen Chu, including leading researchers from the Department of Energy?s National Labs and Dr. Marsha McNutt, Director of the U.S. Geological Survey.
http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=2012968&contentId=7062524
 
Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Update on Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill - 01 June

Release date: 01 June 2010

BP today provided an update on developments in the response to the MC252 oil well incident in the Gulf of Mexico. This follows an announcement on May 29 to move to the next step in the subsea operations.
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Subsea Source Control and Containment

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Preparations are ongoing for deployment of the lower marine riser package (LMRP) cap containment system. Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are engaged in preliminary operations, including preparing for operations to cut through and separate the damaged riser from the LMRP at the top of the Deepwater Horizon?s failed blow-out preventer (BOP).

Deployment of the system will involve connecting the containment cap to a riser from the Discoverer Enterprise drillship and then placing it over the LMRP, with the intention of capturing most of the oil and gas flowing from the well and transporting it to the drillship on the surface.

All of these operations, including the cutting of the riser, are complex, involve risks and uncertainties, and have to be carried out by ROVs at 5,000 feet under water. Systems such as the LMRP containment cap have never before been deployed at these depths and conditions, and their efficiency and ability to contain the oil and gas cannot be assured. It is currently anticipated that attachment of the LMRP cap will be attempted later this week; however, operational delays could impact anticipated timeframes.
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Preparations to use the Discoverer Enterprise to deploy the LMRP cap and the intended severing of the damaged riser mean that the riser insertion tube tool, previously deployed, will not be reinserted into the main leak at the end of the riser.

Work on the first relief well, which started on May 2, continues and it has currently reached a depth of 12,090 feet. Work on the second relief well, which started on May 16, had reached a depth of 8,576 feet before drilling was temporarily suspended on May 26. Drilling operations on the second relief well resumed on May 30. Both wells are still estimated to take around three months to complete from commencement of drilling.
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Surface Spill Response and Containment

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Work continues to collect and disperse oil that has reached the surface of the sea, to protect the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico, and to collect and clean up any oil that has reached shore.

Over 1,600 vessels are now involved in the response effort, including skimmers, tugs, barges and recovery vessels. Operations to skim oil from the surface of the water have now recovered, in total, some 321,000 barrels (13.5 million gallons) of oily liquid.

The total length of containment boom deployed as part of efforts to prevent oil reaching the coast is now over 1.9 million feet, and an additional 1.8 million feet of sorbent boom has also been deployed.

So far approximately 30,000 claims have been submitted and more than 15,000 payments already have been made, totalling some $40 million. BP has received more than 110,000 calls into its help lines to date.
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Additional information

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The cost of the response to date amounts to about $990 million, including the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid and federal costs. It is too early to quantify other potential costs and liabilities associated with the incident.

http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=2012968&contentId=7062526
 
Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Effort to contain Gulf oil stalls with stuck saw


The site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is shown.
CAPTION
By AP​
By GREG BLUESTEIN and BRIAN SKOLOFF (AP) ? 1 hour ago

PORT FOURCHON, La. ? The risky effort to contain the nation's worst oil spill hit a snag Wednesday when a diamond-edged saw became stuck in a thick pipe on a blown-out well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said the goal was to free the saw and finish the cut later in the day. This is the latest attempt to contain ? not plug ? the gusher; the best chance at stopping the leak is a relief well, which is at least two months from completion.

"I don't think the issue is whether or not we can make the second cut. It's about how fine we can make it, how smooth we can make it," Allen said.

If crews make the cut, they will try to place a cap on top of the oil spewing out. This cut-and-cap effort could temporarily increase the flow of oil by as much as 20 percent, though Allen said officials wouldn't know whether that had happened until the cut could be completed.

Engineers may have to bring in a second saw if the delay continues, and they are shooting chemical dispersants at the oil leaking out of the new cut. The cap could be placed over the spill as early as Wednesday.

,,,/
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gIXWYBTpLtSayJtg41LKXpxSxVPAD9G372KG2
 
Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Oil Spill Update: A Saw Gets Stuck; Will Oil Be Leaking at Christmas?

Excerpts:

Here?s what?s new in the Gulf of Mexico:

Saw stuck.

When we left the BP oil spill yesterday, the ?top kill? had failed and the ?top cap? plan?cutting the pipe at a strategic location and then placing a containment dome on top?was commencing. But like every other BP attempt to stop the leak, the dome effort hit a snag.

The attempt bogged down overnight as a special diamond-wire saw snagged in the pipe. The work has stalled as BP tries two old logger tricks: changing the angle of the pipe to let the saw get through and, if that doesn?t work, bringing the saw to the surface to replace the blade [Christian Science Monitor].

What?s more, even if the saw gets free and BP successfully cuts the riser, the already-gushing flow of oil will increase by at least 20 percent between the time engineers finish the cut and the time they install the cap. Whether BP can install the cap, or instead a looser-fitting shell that would capture less of the oil, depends on how smoothly the company makes the final cut. Getting the saw stuck isn?t a good sign.

Dreaming of a crude Christmas?

Through all the failures by BP to plug the well, there?s always been the hope in the background that even if nothing works, the relief wells will be completed in August and finally put an end to this toxic mess. But like everything else happening at a depth of 5,000 feet, even this is no guarantee.

It took Mexico?s state-owned oil company, Petr?leos Mexicanos, or Pemex, nine months to plug its Ixtoc I well after an explosion and fire in 1979. The company?s first attempt with a relief well failed, so it had to drill a second. Eventually, more than 140 million gallons of crude spilled into the Gulf of Mexico ? the biggest offshore oil spill on record [Bloomberg].

BP is drilling two wells simultaneously as an insurance policy. But energy expert Dan Pickering told Bloomberg that if something went wrong and delayed those operations, he could envisions a scenario in which oil still leaks at Christmastime. Of course, the actual worst-case would be if no one ever successfully stops the leak, in which case it could continue for more than a decade.
.../

Full text at:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/8...-gets-stuck-will-oil-be-leaking-at-christmas/
 
Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>BP says unprepared for Gulf spill; pipe awaits cut

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Last Update: 9:57 am

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PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) -- BP's top executive acknowledged Thursday the global oil giant was unprepared to fight a catastrophic deepwater oil spill as engineers were forced yet again to reconfigure plans for executing their latest gambit to control the Gulf of Mexico gusher.

BP PLC planned to use giant shears to cut a pipe a mile below the sea after a diamond-tipped saw became stuck halfway through the job, another frustrating delay in six weeks of failed efforts to stop or at least curtail the worst oil spill in U.S. history. The government's point man for the disaster, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, said on the NBC "Today" show the cut would be made later Thursday.

Once the riser pipe is cut, BP hopes to cap it and start pumping some crude to a surface tanker, which would reduce but not end the spill. The next chance for stopping the flow won't come until two relief wells meant to plug the reservoir for good are finished in August, after an effort to staunch the gusher with heavy mud failed Saturday.

BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward told The Financial Times it was "an entirely fair criticism" to say the company had not been fully prepared for a deepwater oil leak. Hayward called it "low-probability, high-impact" accident.

"What is undoubtedly true is that we did not have the tools you would want in your tool-kit," Hayward said in an interview published in Thursday's edition of the London-based newspaper...

Full text:
http://www.9wsyr.com/content/news/o...l-pipe-awaits-cut/dUHI9P-oIEitk-z6PTAN6g.cspx




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Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/oil/...cap-onto-leaking-gulf-of-mexico-oil-well.html

Page added on June 4, 2010

BP lowers a cap onto leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well

excerpt:
"A funnel-like cap has been placed on top, which if successful, would improve oil recovery and BP would hope to collect the oil on a surface ship above the well. The US Coast Guard said the placement of the cap was a postive development, but that it would be “some time before we can confirm that this method will work and to what extent it will mitigate the release of oil into the environment”."
 
Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Release date: 04 June 2010

LMRP Containment Operation Deployed

BP announced today that oil and gas is being received onboard the Discoverer Enterprise following the successful placement of a containment cap on top of the Deepwater Horizon's failed blow-out preventer (BOP).

This follows the cutting and removal of the riser pipe from the top of the BOP's lower marine riser package (LMRP).
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It is expected to take one or more days for flow rates of oil and gas to stabilize and it is not possible at this stage to estimate how much oil and gas will be captured by this containment system.
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All of these operations are complex, involve risks and uncertainties, and have to be carried out by remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) at 5,000 feet under water. Systems such as the LMRP containment cap never before have been deployed at these depths and conditions. The containment system's efficiency, continued operation, and ability to contain the oil and gas cannot be assured.
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Preparations continue for the planned enhancements to the containment system as announced on June 1. Work continues on the first relief well, which started on May 2, and the second relief well, which started on May 16. Both wells are still estimated to take around three months to complete from commencement of drilling

http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=2012968&contentId=7062653
 
Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

http://www.ustream.tv/pbsnewshour


strange, I am still watching crude oil leaking ...

maybe the video is obsolete with actual time on :cool:

"Live oil cam feed
updated 20 hours ago by tcd004"
04/06/10
09/19/10"


or the light speed of the video signals is somehow slowed on past time ... :rolleyes:
 
Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

BP began capturing some oil spewing from a 46-day gusher Friday after installing a containment cap atop a ruptured Gulf of Mexico well, as tar balls began washing ashore on the Florida coast.
crisis_in_gulf_video_gush3_200.jpg
Source: BP

President Barack Obama was set to make his third trip to the stricken area since the disaster to keep pressure on BP and listen to local residents affected by the disaster. (Track the spill )
Oil sheen and tar balls washed ashore on a northwest Florida beach crowded with holidaymakers in what appeared to be the first impact on the state from the spill.
The crisis is proving to be a monumental test for Obama, who has faced criticism that he has failed to show command or emotion over an oil spill whose impact was dramatized by front-page photographs of oil-covered birds.
BP executives held a conference call for investors but put off a decision on whether to suspend paying its next quarterly dividend as some U.S. politicians had demanded.
However at least one analyst said the underlying message was that the dividend was safe.
The company's share price gyrated in London and New York as company CEO Tony Hayward answered questions. He said the company had plenty of money to meet its obligations, including $5 billion in cash and additional credit lines it could tap if necessary. It has already spent well over $1 billion on its response.
The U.S. Coast Guard said the containment cap placed atop the gusher a mile deep beneath the Gulf's surface was now collecting about 1,000 barrels a day.



t was a sign of progress after several failed attempts by the energy giant. U.S. officials cautioned against being too optimistic, however, since large amounts of oil are still escaping.
BP
[BP 37.16 -2.11 (-5.37%) ] does not expect to be able to fully halt the oil flow until August, when two relief wells are to be completed.
The amount of oil being captured should increase as BP closes vents to trap more oil, Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen told reporters in a conference call.
"Sometime later today we'll probably be able to get ... an approximation of how much oil we are capturing," Allen said.
BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles told U.S. networks the containment cap "should work" by capturing upward of 90 percent of the gushing oil.
One thousand barrels is a small fraction of the 19,000 barrels per day that the U.S. government has estimated could be gushing from the well.
Pressure had been building on BP to suspend dividend payments, which total $10.5 billion a year, and divert cash to dealing with the spill and clean-up but the company's statement was inconclusive on the issue.




Current DateTime: 12:59:16 04 Jun 2010
LinksList Documentid: 37508634

"Future decisions on the quarterly dividend will be made by the Board, as they always have been, on the basis of the circumstances at the time," the statement said. Lucy Haskins of Barclays Capital in London said BP allowed themselves some flexibility by holding back from a guarantee to pay the dividend.
"If things go well, you know, maybe they still can but they didn't back themselves into a corner," she said.
Alan Sinclair of Seymour Pierce said, "My take on the underlying message is that the dividend is safe..."
crisis_in_gulf_cleanup_crew3_200.jpg
Getty Images
Contract workers from BP ferry oil soaked waste to a pickup point as other workers use skimmers to clean oil from a marsh near Pass a Loutre on June 1, 2010 near Venice, Louisiana.

Hayward vowed BP will "stand by our obligations."
"We will halt this spill and put right the damage that has been done," he said.
The BP CEO had to apologize after angering Gulf residents by saying last weekend that "I'd like my life back."
Obama is confronting one of the biggest tests of his presidency as his party girds for tough congressional elections in November. He called off a trip to Australia and Indonesia set for this month to focus on the oil spill.
He was making his third visit to the Gulf. The president has faced criticism as to whether he is doing enough or showing enough emotion in dealing with the crisis.
Obama told CNN's "Larry King Live" on Thursday that "venting and yelling at people" was not his role.
Florida, the so-called Sunshine State with a $60 billion-a-year tourism industry, has been bracing this week for the forecasted arrival of the spilled oil, which has already hit Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama shores to the west.
Beachgoers on Pensacola Beach, many of them children, found tar blobs, some the size of ping pong balls, a Reuters TV producer reported. No cleanup crews were in sight.

 
Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

BP Funneling Some of Leak to the Surface</NYT_HEADLINE><NYT_BYLINE>
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS and HENRY FOUNTAIN

</NYT_BYLINE>Published: June 4, 2010

HOUSTON ? BP and government officials said Friday that a cap installed over a gushing well in the Gulf of Mexico was funneling some oil and gas to the surface, but they cautioned that much was still leaking and that it would be days before they could declare this latest containment effort a success.

As the large metal cap was inched into place late Thursday, about 80 engineers, scientists and government officials crowded into the hive ? as the room in the subsea operations command center is called ? here to watch on video screens. The maneuver was their handiwork, and a critical step in the latest of what had been a string of dismal efforts to capture some of the oil leaking since the Deepwater Horizon drill rig exploded on April 20.

As the cap hit the oil and gas streaming with great force from the top of the well, it suddenly disappeared, hidden from the video cameras by clouds of hydrocarbons spewing everywhere, said a technician who was there. The operation was briefly flying blind. But a few tense moments later the cap was successfully centered over the wellhead, 5,000 feet below the surface, then lowered half a foot to make a seal. The crowd, including Energy Secretary Steven Chu, gave a cheer.

?I would say that things are going as planned,? Kent Wells, a BP executive, said at a briefing Friday afternoon. ?I am encouraged. But remember, we only have 12 hours? experience.?

Later, BP reported on its Web site that in the first 12 hours of operation the cap had diverted 76,000 gallons of oil to a ship on the surface. Current estimates are that oil is leaking from the well at a rate of 500,000 to 800,000 gallons a day.

.../

Full text at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/05/us/05capture.html
 
Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Cap holds more oil, but time will tell

By Seattle Times news services
...

Allen said the goal is to gradually raise the amount of the oil being captured, adding that if engineers closed the vents too quickly, water would rush in and form the kind of icy hydrates that doomed a previous attempt to cap the leak.

A technician working on the operation said the engineers also were working slowly because of a concern that the volume and velocity of the escaping oil could create so much friction on the inside walls of the new 5,000-foot pipe that it could force it entirely off the cap.

...

Technicians involved in the operation said they also are concerned that as they succeed in gathering more oil, they may have trouble handling and storing all of it. A ship on the surface is capable of collecting 630,000 gallons a day, Allen said.

...

Compiled from McClatchy Newspapers, The Associated Press and The New York Times
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2012042415_oil06.html
 
Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

June 06, 2010, 12:16 AM EDT <!-- Aggregate knowledge -->

By Edward Klump
June 6 (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc plans to increase the oil- capture rate from its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico as the company tries to contain the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

BP said yesterday that it collected 6,077 barrels of crude in the 24-hour period of June 4. The well is estimated by government scientists to be gushing 12,000 to 19,000 barrels into the Gulf every day.

Four vents on a “cap” over the well remained open, allowing oil to flow through the cap and into the ocean, U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said yesterday in a news conference. BP will try to close the vents when pressure is stabilized, Allen said. On June 4, Allen said BP was recovering oil at the rate of about 1,000 barrels a day.



http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...-oil-capture-rate-from-leaking-gulf-well.html
 
Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

June 6, 2010
Thad Allen: Oil Spill Fight Will Last Into Fall

Coast Guard Point Man for Gulf Spill Response Says Combating Oil on Many Fronts Will Be "Long-Term Campaign"


image6553976g.jpg

Admiral Thad Allen, U.S. Coast Guard, National Incident Commander on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, on "Face the Nation," Sunday, June 6, 2010. (CBS)

(CBS) <!-- longtext start-->Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the point man for the federal government's response to the oil spill in the Gulf, said today that the fight to stop and contain the oil will be a "long-term campaign" that will last for several more months.

"We're fighting on three fronts," Allen said on CBS' "Face the Nation," noting the fight to stop the oil coming up, the oil that is on the surface, and the oil that has made it to the shore already.

"This will only end when we intercept the well bore, pump mud down it to overcome the pressure of the oil coming up from the reservoir and put a cement plug in. That's what I would call bottom kill rather than top kill. The spill will not be contained until that happens," he told host Bob Schieffer.

"But even after that, there will be oil out there for months to come. This will be well into the fall. This is a siege across the entire Gulf," he said.

Allen used a "siege" metaphor several times during the interview.

"This is a siege that is going to go on for a long time. We are spread from southcentral Louisiana over to Port Saint Joe, Florida. It is not going to end soon, and we need to have our shoulder to the wheel, do everything we can. This is a very, very, very tough problem," he said.

"This spill is holding everybody hostage, not only economically but physically. And it has to be attacked on all fronts," he added.

Allen also provided an update on whether the latest attempt to stop the flow of oil was working. Earlier Sunday, BP CEO Tony Hayward said that 420,000 gallons of oil had been contained over the last 24 hours by the containment cap.

But Allen said he wouldn?t make any pronouncement about the success of this operation yet.

"I'm hoping we catch as much as we can, but I'm withholding any comment until we know production is at a full rate and we close all those vents of oil, and we see what's coming out around the rubber seal at the bottom," he said.

Allen also described the next step, which is to close the vents in the cap to take more oil out of the well.

"What's going to happen when they close those vents, whatever oil can't rise through the pipe and is being produced may be forced out around that rubber seal because we didn't get an exact fit, because we didn't -- the cap couldn't be put onto the containment device," he said. "And when all four vents are closed and we see how much oil is actually coming out around that seal, then we'll know."

.../
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/06/ftn/main6554019.shtml
 
Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Commander: I never said this is going well

052010-thad-allen.jpg
File photo.

by Ray Henry and Harry R. Weber / Associated Press
wwltv.com
Posted on June 8, 2010 at 3:08 PM

The cap over a broken BP wellhead at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico is collecting more gushing crude day by day, but that's about the extent of the details known as authorities try to pinpoint how much oil is escaping, where it's going and what harm it will cause.

The recently installed containment cap on the stricken BP wellhead is helping to limit the leak, collecting more than 620,000 gallons of oil Monday, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Tuesday in Washington. Still, underwater video feeds continue to show a dark geyser.

"I have never said this is going well," said Allen, who's monitoring the response effort for the government. "We're throwing everything at it that we've got. I've said time and time again that nothing good happens when oil is on the water."

Authorities had earlier reported that the cap collected around 460,000 gallons Sunday and that it was capturing anywhere from a third to three-quarters of the oil spewing out after a damaged riser pipe was cut as part of the containment effort, increasing the flow as a side effect.
A member of the Coast Guard team that's trying to determine how much oil is still leaking told The Associated Press it's possible that estimates the team will generate could be a bit higher than current government estimates.

The team member, University of Texas engineering professor Paul Bommer, said he understands why people might wonder why BP didn't try the cap sooner, especially now that it appears to be doing its job.

"Hindsight is always 20/20," Bommer said. "I think we have to give some credence to the notion they were trying to make things better without making things worse."

.../

http://www.wwltv.com/news/local/Commander-I-never-said-this-is-going-well-95891694.html
 
Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

BP oil spill may not be capped until Christmas, expert warns

'Everyone should be prepared for worst-case scenario', says the head of oil consultancy group

Terry Macalister and Richard Wachman
guardian.co.uk, <TIME datetime="2010-06-13T22:11BST" pubdate>Sunday 13 June 2010 22.11 BST</TIME>

One of the world's leading authorities on oil well management has warned it could take until Christmas to cap the Gulf of Mexico spill that is devastating the southern coast of America ? and BP's reputation.

Nansen Saleri, a Gulf drilling expert, said he hoped BP would meet its August timetable for capping the blown-out well, but made it clear success was not certain.

"I know it is a frightening assessment but everyone should be prepared for a worst-case scenario, and that could mean a Christmas timeframe," said Saleri, chief executive of the consultancy group Quantum Reservoir Impact. "The probable outcome is much better but the technological challenges ? are enormous."

The futures of BP and of wildlife around the Gulf of Mexico are largely dependent on the rapid success of two "relief" wells that are being drilled in an attempt to halt anywhere between 20,000 and 40,000 barrels of oil a day that is flowing out of the stricken Macondo subsea hole. Saleri, who dealt personally with four blowouts during a career with Saudi
Aramco and Chevron, said the BP fire and spill was the worst he had seen.

He believes it may cause more damage than the Ixtoc I blowout 30 years ago, which is regarded as the most damaging of its kind.

BP faced renewed pressure to do more to contain the Gulf of Mexico spill as the US and Britain played down diplomatic tensions over the crisis.

The British foreign secretary, William Hague, said relations between the US and UK were "outstanding at every level". He said it was up to BP ? under pressure in the US to suspend its dividend to help pay for damage ? to decide on its payout to shareholders. David Cameron and Barack Obama talked at the weekend, when Cameron expressed his sadness at the "human and environmental catastrophe".

Tony Hayward, the BP chief executive, will be grilled about the disaster in the US on Thursday when he appears before a special Senate hearing. On Wednesday, Hayward and the BP chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg, will meet the president at the White House to explain BP's response.

According to reports, Obama will tell the pair he wants BP to establish a special account to meet damage claims by individuals and businesses hurt by the spill.

The prospect of a lengthy timescale to cap the well reinforces the views of Carlos Morales, the head of exploration at Petr?leos Mexicanos (Pemex). The company was the operator of the Ixtoc I well in 1979, when 3.3m gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf. It took nearly 10 months to bring the blowout under control.

Morales is now sharing technical information with BP in an attempt to help it block the Macondo leak. He has warned it could take "four to five months" for a relief well to cap the spill.

Hurricanes also pose a problem. The hurricane season in the Gulf began this month, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted it will be "active to very active", with up to 23 named storms and up to 14 hurricanes on the way.

Saleri said a bad storm could "really complicate" the environmental impact of spilled oil and delay relief drilling by two weeks every time a hurricane strikes.

BP is also aware that the relief wells could be as unstable as the original one. Experts admit no one can rule out another blowout such as the one that sent the original rig, Horizon Explorer, to the bottom of the ocean.

The British company has warned in a regulatory filing that a blowout on one of the relief wells could release a further 240,000 barrels of oil a day, although Hayward has since discounted the chances of this. "The relief wells ultimately will be successful," he said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/13/bp-oil-spill-timetable
 
Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Update on Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Response - 14 June

Release date: 14 June 2010

BP today provided an update on developments in the response to the MC252 oil well incident in the Gulf of Mexico.
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Subsea Source Control and Containment

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The lower marine riser package (LMRP) containment cap, installed on June 3, continues to collect oil and gas flowing from the MC252 well and transport them to the Discoverer Enterprise drillship on the surface.

In the first 12 hours of June 13 (midnight to noon), approximately 7,720 barrels of oil were collected and 16.9 million cubic feet of natural gas were flared. On June 12, a total of approximately 15,000 barrels of oil were collected and 32.9 million cubic feet of natural gas were flared. The total volume of oil collected by the LMRP cap system since it began operation is approximately 127,000 barrels. A further approximately 22,000 barrels of oil previously had been collected through use of the Riser Insertion Tube Tool and stored in the Discoverer Enterprise.
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Between June 9 and 11 approximately 115,000 barrels of collected oil were transferred from storage on the Discoverer Enterprise to the barge Massachusetts between June 9 and 11. The Massachusetts left the MC252 site on June 11 to discharge the oil at a terminal in Mobile, Alabama. Once discharge is complete, the barge will return to the MC252 site.

The volume of oil captured and gas flared is being updated twice daily on BP?s website, www.bp.com. The LMRP containment cap has never before been deployed at these depths and conditions, and its efficiency and ability to contain the oil and gas cannot be assured.

Preparations for additional planned enhancements to the LMRP cap containment system continue to progress.
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The first planned addition, to operate in addition to the LMRP cap system, will take oil and gas from the choke line of the failed Deepwater Horizon blow-out preventer (BOP) through a separate riser to the Q4000 vessel on the surface. Both the oil and gas captured by this additional system are expected to be flared through a specialised clean-burning system. This system is intended to increase the amount of oil and gas that can be captured from the well and is currently anticipated to begin operations in the next few days.

Preparations are also underway for more permanent and flexible containment system employing floating risers. A manifold has been deployed on the seabed and a suction pile to anchor a riser has been installed. It is currently anticipated that this system will be available to begin first operations around the end of June/early July.

Plans are being developed to further develop these systems and also for further options to provide additional containment capacity and flexibility, in line with requests made by the US Coast Guard.

Work on the first relief well, which started May 2, continues and has currently reached a depth of 13,978 feet. The second relief well, which started May 16, is at 9,022 feet. Both wells are still estimated to take approximately three months to complete from commencement of drilling.
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Surface Spill Response and Containment

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Work continues to collect and disperse oil that has reached the surface of the sea, to protect the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico, and to collect and clean up any oil that has reached shore.

Operations to skim oil from the surface of the water now have recovered, in total, almost 475,000 barrels (19.9 million gallons) of oily liquid.

The total length of containment boom deployed as part of efforts to prevent oil from reaching the coast is now around 2.5 million feet (over 470 miles), and almost 3.2 million feet (almost 600 miles) of sorbent boom also has been deployed.

To date, over 51,000 claims have been submitted and more than 26,500 payments have been made, totalling over $62 million.
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Additional information

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The cost of the response to date amounts to approximately $1.6 billion, including the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs. This includes new grants of $25 million each to the states of Florida, Alabama and Mississippi and the first $60 million in funds for the Louisiana barrier islands construction project. It is too early to quantify other potential costs and liabilities associated with the incident.

http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=2012968&contentId=7062886
 
Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

BP: Oil containment operations resume after fire

posted 06/15/10 5:38 pm

HOUSTON (AP) - BP says oil containment operations have resumed in the Gulf of Mexico after a ship fire caused by a bolt of lightning had shut down the containment for about five hours. BP spokesman Bill Salvin tells The Associated Press that containment operations resumed at 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday. He says the containment cap that had been capturing the leaking oil was not damaged by the fire and the system was shut down as a precaution.
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BP had said the fire was spotted around 9:30 a.m. on a drill ship called the Discoverer Enterprise. The fire was quickly extinguished.

.../

http://www.news8.net/news/stories/0610/746218.html
 
Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Additional Oil and Gas Containment System Begins Operation

Release date: 16 June 2010

BP announced today that oil and gas is flowing through a second containment system attached to the Deepwater Horizon rig?s failed blow out preventer (BOP).

This second system supplements the lower marine riser package (LMRP) cap containment system, which remains in operation. The new system is connected directly to the BOP and carries oil and gas through a manifold and hoses to the Q4000 vessel on the surface. The Q4000 uses a specialised clean-burning system to flare oil and gas captured by this second system.

Oil and gas collected from the BOP reached the Q4000 at approximately 1:00 am CDT (7.00 am BST) on June 16. Operations continue to stabilise and optimise the performance of the second containment system.
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Information on the volume of oil collected and gas flared by the LMRP cap containment system is being updated twice daily on BP?s website, www.bp.com. When measurements are available for volumes of oil and gas being flared by the Q4000, this information will be added to the updates on BP?s website.

Neither the new capture system nor the LMRP containment cap system has ever before been deployed at these depths and conditions, and their efficiency and ability to contain the oil and gas cannot be assured.

http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=2012968&contentId=7062965
 
Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Subsea operational update:</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>
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</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top></TD><TD class=whiteRegular>Optimization of the dual system, LMRP Cap and the Q4000 Direct Connect, will continue over the next few days. </TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>
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For the last 12 hours on June 16th (noon to midnight), approximately 7,710 barrels of oil were collected and approximately 2,600 barrels of oil and 22 million cubic feet of natural gas were flared.

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On June 16th, a total of approximately 14,750 barrels of oil were collected and approximately 3,850 barrels of oil and 40 million cubic feet of natural gas were flared.

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Total oil recovered from both the LMRP Cap and Q4000 systems since they were implemented is approximately 179,000 barrels.

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The Overseas Cascade began lightering early this morning (lightering is a process of transferring crude oil between vessels, in this case, Enterprise to Overseas Cascade).

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The next update will be provided at 6:00pm CDT on June 17, 2010.

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</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top></TD><TD>Updated June 17 at 9:00am CDT / 3:00pm BST</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

http://www.bp.com/extendedsectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=40&contentId=7061813
 
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