Gulf Oil Spill Worse Than Initially Reported

[AndyH]

With PVC plumbing they always tell you to cut the pipe square. Anyone will tell you though you can be a little off and it doesn't matter because the seal is formed along the surface of the pipe wall and the fitting, not the end of the pipe. (Of course you can't be waaay off and cut the pipe on a 45 degree angle or you would not have enough contact surface all the way around the pipe).

I get the impression this cap is not like a pipe cap that makes a tight fit *around* the pipe. ie no O-rings or anything.

Take a memo... future deep water oil production should be done with PVC pipe... it's much easier to work with.

I think your view of the sealing surface is correct.

The BP graphics show a gasket or seal in the cap that appears to interface with the end of the pipe. This seem to be confirmed by the reports that BP needed a smooth cut when they severed the damaged riser.

Now that they're stuck with the really nasty pipe end, it would seem that there's not a chance in the world that the current cap will seal. The only way I can see to get a decent seal is to move to a circumferential seal (they want to seal out water, not stop the oil leak). Maybe something like a 21 inch compression fitting? Or a large rubber seal?

 

[evnow]

Now that they're stuck with the really nasty pipe end, it would seem that there's not a chance in the world that the current cap will seal.

Actually, Thad Allen said they may go back and smoothen the top of raiser.

 

[mitch672]

They need to do something. CNN just reported "some success", BP reports collecting 250,000 gallons per day, or about 1/3 of the total. That still means 500,000 gallons / day of oil into the GOM.

 

[AndyH]

Now that they're stuck with the really nasty pipe end, it would seem that there's not a chance in the world that the current cap will seal.

Actually, Thad Allen said they may go back and smoothen the top of raiser.

The more I watch them (and lose my sense of optimism...) the more I expect Karen to get her Unicorn before BP outwits Murphy.

 

[AndyH]

The EIA says we only get 9% of our oil from from all off-shore drilling, and only 8% from the Gulf. I don't expect much of that is from deep wells yet.

Is it really worth it to go deep?

And do we really need to go to deep water? I thought one of the latest and greatest drilling saviors is the ability to drill horizontally? Can't we keep the kids in the shallow end of the pool and still tap that deep oil?

 

[mitch672]

The EIA says we only get 9% of our oil from from all off-shore drilling, and only 8% from the Gulf. I don't expect much of that is from deep wells yet.

Is it really worth it to go deep?

And do we really need to go to deep water? I thought one of the latest and greatest drilling saviors is the ability to drill horizontally? Can't we keep the kids in the shallow end of the pool and still tap that deep oil?

Sure you could, but it will cost much more and take much longer to reach.
two things that for profit oil companies have a distinct distaste for.

 

[evnow]

30% of US production comes from offshore. And almost 100% of new production would be deep sea.

Here is the basic problem will BP and its ilk. Their share price depends on their total assets. Total assets depends on oil reserves. Oil reserves go down as you pump oil ... so companies need to continuously find new reserves just to keep their total reserves (and thus assets) from going down. This is a game they will lose ... but along the way they will kill as many ecologies as possible.

Ofcource middle east doesn't have that problem. They can make up their reserve numbers and never need to reduce them even after pumping out oil for decades. Funny thing is EIA takes those fictitious numbers when making projections of future oil production ! So, no need to worry about peak oil !!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJd4EM9vKp0

 

[mwalsh]

Oh, god. Please take down the video of the dying bird. You're preaching to the choir here. I don't think any of us need this additional incentive.

 

[evnow]

Oh, god. Please take down the video of the dying bird. You're preaching to the choir here. I don't think any of us need this additional incentive.

True. Just left the link to video - pls send it to "drill baby drill" types.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

This oil spill bodes well for the future of EVs.

 

[Jimmydreams]

This oil spill bodes well for the future of EVs.

Sadly, not as much as it should. Remember, society has an attention span that can only be measured in nanoseconds. A few days after the media moves on to something else, people will be demanding their Excursions again. Heck, the $4.00 gas was forgotten SO fast it made my head spin.

I didn't forget. That's why I'm here!!

 

[evnow]

Sadly, not as much as it should. Remember, society has an attention span that can only be measured in nanoseconds. A few days after the media moves on to something else, people will be demanding their Excursions again. Heck, the $4.00 gas was forgotten SO fast it made my head spin.

Obama should be blaming drill-baby-drill types for this and promoting EVs. Unfortunate that he doesn't get it.

Louisiana senator & governor are already opposing offshore drill ban - if you can beleive that.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/wgno-news-jindal-letter-ban-on-oil-drilling,0,3269151.story

And look at this poll

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/search/label/offshore%20drilling

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

Sadly, not as much as it should. Remember, society has an attention span that can only be measured in nanoseconds. A few days after the media moves on to something else, people will be demanding their Excursions again. Heck, the $4.00 gas was forgotten SO fast it made my head spin.

I didn't forget. That's why I'm here!!

Bah! $4 gas was nuthin. I'm still trying to live down the 1974 oil embargo.

Wait till a nuclear armed Iran mines the Strait of Hormuz. You'll be amazed how the ensuing shortage will bring out the best in American society. Not.

 

[planet4ever]

And look at this poll

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/search/label/offshore%20drilling

Actually, if they had polled me I would have had to say "Makes no difference."

... But that's because I was totally opposed to any offshore drilling anywhere even before the Gulf disaster.

Sometimes poll results don't really mean what you think they mean.

 

[evnow]

Actually, if they had polled me I would have had to say "Makes no difference."

... But that's because I was totally opposed to any offshore drilling anywhere even before the Gulf disaster.

Sometimes poll results don't really mean what you think they mean.

Thats what Nate is argueing in that article. But even now 55% support offshore drilling ....



ps : We don't recognize this enough - but "free market" indoctrination has completely assimilated a large % of Americans.

 

[planet4ever]

OK, this will probably turn into a thread hijack, but I can't control myself. The real reason I am opposed to offshore drilling is that I am opposed to any use of oil as a fuel. The way I see it, the occupants of this beautiful planet have a choice to make. We can either:

1. Spend unfathomable billions of dollars extracting oil for the next fifty years or so until the supply runs out, and then spend perhaps ten times that much in a frantic, and probably futile, effort to shove carbon back underground so the planet doesn't turn into a duplicate of Venus,

or:

2. Leave the carbon where it is, safely stored underground, and spend a tiny fraction of that money learning how to conserve our finite resources, and developing alternative energy sources.

It's really that simple. At least in my perhaps simple mind.

 

[evnow]

I've been watching Viking Poseidon – ROV 1. They have been practicing loosening bolts. 5 bolts in 7 hours. Unbelievable.

ps : Apparently tried 5 bolts & 4 sockets without success till now :shock:

 

[mitch672]

I've been watching Viking Poseidon – ROV 1. They have been practicing loosening bolts. 5 bolts in 7 hours. Unbelievable.

ps : Apparently tried 5 bolts & 4 sockets without success till now :shock:

Yes, bolt 5, impact wrench 0. If they can't get an impact wrench socket on a single bolt in 6.5 hours, there is no hope of being able to unbolt the damaged LMRP flange for a better seal...

 

[evnow]

Save Our Seabirds has a wish list of things they need ...

http://saveourseabirds.com/index.php?page=wish-list

 

[evnow]

Next steps ...