Update for statement from Adm Allen: Last evening, in an email statement, National Incident Commander, Thad Allen, ordered BP to reopen the well at the completion of the current shut in test. He had ordered another 24 hours shut-in with extensive montitoring, which ends this afternoon. This morning, Doug Suttles, standing in for Kent Wells, held the morning McBriefing, providing scant information, then proceeded to not answer reporters' questions (one per customer, no follow-ups, no coupons accepted).
The only information that I was able to glean from the McBriefing was that pressure on the well was 6,778 psi, up 78 psi since the well was shut in some 63 hours ago. He said that the test was going well, and that the pressure is building as they expected. I find that interesting since they have moved the "everything is going according to plan" goalpost twice in the last 2 days. You'll recall that last Tuesday, July 13, Adm. Allen said,
Here's the rich part. Today, Suttles dodged virtually every inquiry as to exactly what BP intends to do, picking up the new mantra that Wells started yesterday, "Nobody wants to see any more oil going into the Gulf." He said it at least 5 times (seemed like 100). He said the facilities to take 100% of the flow would take until the end of the month, and coincidently, that the relief well would be ready for the kill at the same time. He also said this morning that, in order to open up the well for containment, they would flow oil into the Gulf for up to 3 days. 3 days. Wells said something similar yesterday, raising the spectre of oil spewing into the Gulf on all of our television screens, claiming that they would have to do that to take pressure off of the well before containment could resume. Of course, no one asked the obvious question of why they would have to do that since they have 2 closed systems with chokes tied to the well that they've already used successfully. Unless I'm missing something, they can "relieve pressure" up the existing risers. If they can't do that, they can certainly put the Enterprise back on station, and run a riser with a latching cap to tie directly to the top of the stack.
So the stage is set. It sure looks like to me that BP is refusing to disclose critical data and playing chicken with the government while holding our Gulf of Mexico as hostage. They have every motivation to not produce the well, for all the reasons we've discussed before, most importantly, being able to measure the flow; and the ROV feed of oil roaring back into the Gulf is the gun to the head. The government should compel BP to release all the data from this test. Again, this well, this lease, this oil and gas belong to the United States. This well is in federal waters, and we are all owners here. As owners of this resource, we have a right to see all the information available. BP should immediately release all of the pressure buildup data, temperature data, acoustic data, and seismic data. They should also release their build up models including the Horner plot forecasts that Wells discussed yesterday. Only then can we make a judgment that BP is managing this in the best interest of the United States, not just their own. We need no more reason for this demand than the massive scale of this catastrophe.
One more thing...these McBriefings are BS, and we're just passively sitting there letting BP get away with "technical briefings" that are neither technical or briefings. It's time to start asking the hard questions, demanding the data, and to stop putting up with the one question per customer, no followups, no coupons accepted policy. These briefings should be live, with some reporters actually present rather than just by telephone. If the government won't do it, then we need to. This is too important.
Update: In response to press reports now coming out (from much larger outlets than this modest blog), Adm Allen just issued the following statement:
More on The Daily Hurricane Energy page.
The only information that I was able to glean from the McBriefing was that pressure on the well was 6,778 psi, up 78 psi since the well was shut in some 63 hours ago. He said that the test was going well, and that the pressure is building as they expected. I find that interesting since they have moved the "everything is going according to plan" goalpost twice in the last 2 days. You'll recall that last Tuesday, July 13, Adm. Allen said,
"We will at some point try to get to 8,000 or 9,000 and sustain that for some period of time, and these will be done basically, as I said -- if we have a very low pressure reading, we will try and need (ph) at least six hours of those readings to try to ensure that that is the reading. If it's a little higher, we want to go for 24 hours. And if it's up at 8,000 or 9,000, we would like to go 48 hours just to make sure it can sustain those pressures for that amount of time."Adm. Allen then went on to say that the test would go from 6 to 48 hours, and only longer if the pressure was higher. No one from BP corrected that statement, so those numbers stood until Kent Wells moved the goalpost during his Friday, July 16 briefing, saying,
"We also said that if the pressure go above 8,000 pounds and really the number in 7,500 pounds, it would really say to us that we do have integrity under, essentially, any scenario."Very smooth. In one sweeping statement, that the press let him get away with, Wells moved the target pressure down as much as 1,500 psi from the 9,000 psi to 7,500, much closer to the 6,700 psi they were holding, which is actually at the lower end of the ambiguity range we talked about on Friday. Wells did it again yesterday, moving the "good integrity" range number down to 6,000 psi to 7,500 psi, saying,
"But at this point there is no evidence that we have no integrity and that's very goodSo, over the last 3 days, BP has walked the "integrity" goalpost down from as high as 9,000 psi to 6,000 psi, or at least the 6,700 psi, which happens to be where they are, give or take 100 psi. You know Adm Allen didn't just make up the 8,000 to 9,000, being a sea captain and knowing little to nothing about oil and gas. Somebody gave him those numbers. BP moved to goalpost and the timeline, and the press let them get away with it. Again.
and the fact that the pressure is continuing to rise is giving us more and more
confidence that as we go through this process."
Here's the rich part. Today, Suttles dodged virtually every inquiry as to exactly what BP intends to do, picking up the new mantra that Wells started yesterday, "Nobody wants to see any more oil going into the Gulf." He said it at least 5 times (seemed like 100). He said the facilities to take 100% of the flow would take until the end of the month, and coincidently, that the relief well would be ready for the kill at the same time. He also said this morning that, in order to open up the well for containment, they would flow oil into the Gulf for up to 3 days. 3 days. Wells said something similar yesterday, raising the spectre of oil spewing into the Gulf on all of our television screens, claiming that they would have to do that to take pressure off of the well before containment could resume. Of course, no one asked the obvious question of why they would have to do that since they have 2 closed systems with chokes tied to the well that they've already used successfully. Unless I'm missing something, they can "relieve pressure" up the existing risers. If they can't do that, they can certainly put the Enterprise back on station, and run a riser with a latching cap to tie directly to the top of the stack.
So the stage is set. It sure looks like to me that BP is refusing to disclose critical data and playing chicken with the government while holding our Gulf of Mexico as hostage. They have every motivation to not produce the well, for all the reasons we've discussed before, most importantly, being able to measure the flow; and the ROV feed of oil roaring back into the Gulf is the gun to the head. The government should compel BP to release all the data from this test. Again, this well, this lease, this oil and gas belong to the United States. This well is in federal waters, and we are all owners here. As owners of this resource, we have a right to see all the information available. BP should immediately release all of the pressure buildup data, temperature data, acoustic data, and seismic data. They should also release their build up models including the Horner plot forecasts that Wells discussed yesterday. Only then can we make a judgment that BP is managing this in the best interest of the United States, not just their own. We need no more reason for this demand than the massive scale of this catastrophe.
One more thing...these McBriefings are BS, and we're just passively sitting there letting BP get away with "technical briefings" that are neither technical or briefings. It's time to start asking the hard questions, demanding the data, and to stop putting up with the one question per customer, no followups, no coupons accepted policy. These briefings should be live, with some reporters actually present rather than just by telephone. If the government won't do it, then we need to. This is too important.
Update: In response to press reports now coming out (from much larger outlets than this modest blog), Adm Allen just issued the following statement:
WASHINGTON - Per my conversation with BP Executive Bob Dudley as recently as 11 a.m. EST today, nothing has changed about the joint agreement announced yesterday between BP and the US government. The ongoing well integrity test will continue until 4 p.m. EST today, with the potential for additional extensions in 24-hour increments. As a condition of the extension, the US government has required significant new monitoring and periodic evaluation and approval by our science team.The game of chicken continues.
Work must continue to better understand the lower than expected pressure readings. This work centers on two plausible scenarios, depletion of oil from the reservoir and potential leakage caused by damage to the well bore or casing.
While we are pleased that no oil is currently being released into the Gulf of Mexico and want to take all appropriate action to keep it that way, it is important that all decisions are driven by the science. Ultimately, we must insure no irreversible damage is done which could cause uncontrolled leakage from numerous points on the sea floor.
More on The Daily Hurricane Energy page.
Wow, that was random.
Louise, when you get on the freeway, call me so I can avoid driving that day.
Tell me what neighborhood you live in so I can be sure to never go there.
Indicate what planet you live on as there is obviously a lack of oxygen available for brain function.
Share with us the name of your dealer so we can have him substitute Paxil for the acid that has caused your bad trip.
And finally, go ahead and put your order in now for your casket as that much venom in anyone's system is quite toxic.
Thanks for playing!
And yet....and yet....these teagaggers try to make people believe they are not racist or hate-filled idiots. Louise has just proven that they are, indeed, racist and full of ignorant hate.
Louise, I only have one question for you. You obviously (from the rage and spittle you have deposited on your computer screen in your rant) feel that you are somehow "better than", or "above" people like Barack and Michelle Obama.
Why is that, one might ask?
Certainly not because of your education or your brains. You have shown a distinct lack of either of those qualities. Might it be that because of your skin color you feel that you are better than a man who is extremely intelligent, extremely well-educated (summa cum laude at Harvard Law - that means top honors, dearie, in case you don't understand Latin), calm, thoughtful and the very epitome of class and gentle behavior? Do you think you're better than he due to race? Obviously you must think so. Let me be the first to clue you in.
You're not.
Go sit in your doublewide and ponder that for a while.
Alas, Carol, there are people that are that stupid, plain ignorant and downright mean. Commenting on the First Lady's physical appearance is about as low as anyone can go and totally exposes the lack of any character whatsoever in the writer(and I use the term writer very loosely). I used to try to make some excuse for such abhorrent behavior, but now I see it for what it is and act accordingly. There is no need to feel any pity or tolerance for such a person, just disgust . . .
"WHY SHOULD WE ALL PAY FOR THOSE LAZY ASSHOLE'S THAT SIT AROUND THE HOUSE AND PARTY--DRINK AND DO DRUGS-HAVE BABY AFTER BABY -FATHER'S OF THOSE BABIES NOT PAYING NO CHILD SUPPORT-WHY SHOULD WE ALL PAY FOR THE KID'S THE KEEP HAVING??"
So idiots like you can have the time to go off on an incoherent, factually challenged, and grammatically torturous racist rant from a hillbilly computer with a broken caps lock key?
"SOMEONE WITH CAHOONES SHOULD START IMPEACHMENT"
Dumb question Weezie, but what the heck is a "CAHOONIE"? Is that like male hooters?
"PEE HERMAN WOULD HAVE BEEN A BETTER PRESIDENT"
Now you've gone too far woman! Possibly Pee Wee Herman may have been a better President but no way his incontinent evil twin (we like to call him Wee Wee Herman for kicks) that no one likes to talk about is Presidential material! Recant evil blasphemous woman!
And finally as for your false meme, "IMAGINE MICHELLE HAS 27 ON HER STAFF!AND OUR BEAUTIFUL FIRST LADY LAURA BUSH HAD ONLY THREE", you couldn’t even get that right could you? The correct number making the rounds in the right wing hate mail chains is “LAURA BUSH HAD ONLY ONE!” And guess what? You wuz wrong there again Weezie. Laura Bush had “between 24 and 26 [staffers] by the end of President George W. Bush’s term in 2009 according to Anita McBride, Mrs. Bush’s Chief of Staff” who by the way, from the title alone would indicate the Ms. McBride was not Chief to only herself.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/firstlady.asp
Thanks for tossing us that wingnut catnip toy Bob. That was fun!
I think I hear your village calling. They're looking for their missing idiot.
You.
Venus, surely this must be an alcohol related rant!
No one could possibly be this stupid-- could they?
Unfortunately RHM, I don't think this can be attributed to alcohol. It is a far more serious & innate condition . . .
Louise, they tried the junk shot many, many weeks ago. You're far too late.
So much hate you needed all caps?
You know what? I am tempted to call shenanigans on this reply. I find it difficult to believe that something so ugly and incoherent was written by someone who is able to turn on a computer.
No one should ever drive drunk. Some shouldn't type.
The spill actually emanates from Louise's brain, and I'm afraid it's much more of a disaster that first thought! It is also impossible to calculate the quantity of grey matter lost due to the constant jibberish and psychotic posting of Louise's brain, so this one will go down in history as perhaps the greatest spill of all time...vqyzve
Geez Louise, I see you went on a incoherent rant!
Not only did you fail to read the article you have exposed yourself as a prime example of what happens when people just don't get the basic education needed to post on a public forum and not sound all "ignuurnt".
This may be difficult for you to answer, but what in the heck does your never-ending blather have to do with BP and them releasing or being forthright with, information about the spill??
I wanted to say something pithy and then realized you wouldn't know what it means or be able to spell it properly. I honestly feel sorry for you. You are filled with so much hatred and seem to be foaming at the mouth over things long since proven false. You are not helping your cause with this.
Sub-human. You.
FIRST I AM NOW HOLDING BACK -I AM TOTALLY DISGUSTED WITH THAT BOWING MUSLIM---WHY IN THE HELL IS THAT BOWING MUSLIM IDIOT NON AMERICAN BORN OBAMA SUCH AN ASSHOLE??IT
HARD TO RESPECT A JERK LIKE THAT--HE HAS REALLY DEVIDED AMERICA --WE WERE SOMEWHAT WORKING TOGETHER BLACKS AND WHITES)IN THE PAST BEFORE THAT MUSLIN TOOK OFFICE WHICH HE DOES NOT BELONG IN THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!! NOW IT LOOKS LIKE THIS IS REALLY DEVIDED!! IT IS AWFUL!! THAT SOME OF THE BLACK'S ARE PUSHING PEOPLE AROUND!! IT IS DIGUSTING TO SEE THIS--THIS BLUE LIP MUSLIM MAN TALKS WITH BOTH SIDES OF HIS MOUTH CAN'T EVEN TALK WITHOUT THAT TELEPROMTER--HE IS A MESS--CAN'T EVERYONE SEE THAT HE IS NO GOOD FOR AMERICA--I WISHED IT WAS 2012 TO VOTE HIS ASS OUT--OR SOMEONE WITH CAHOONES SHOULD START IMPEACHMENT--WHAT A MESS AMERICA HAS BEEN SINCE HE TOOK OVER!!--HE HAS HIS "DIRTY"FINGERS IN EVERYONE PERSONAL BUSINESS-A PRESIDENT IS SUPPOSE TO BE A PRESIDENT FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE-PROTECT US -- HE NOW IS NOT EVEN HELPING ARIZONA? SUEING ARIZONA?? HE IS HELPING THE ALIEN'S BECAUSE HE IS ONE --CAN'T YOU ALL UNDERSTAND-WHAT A DISAPOINTMENT HE HAS BEEN--STOP AND THINK OF OUR TAXES OBAMA IS PUTTING ON US, REAL AMERICAN'S!!DISTRUBUTION OF WEALTH?? WHY SHOULD WE ALL PAY FOR THOSE LAZY ASSHOLE'S THAT SIT AROUND THE HOUSE AND PARTY--DRINK AND DO DRUGS-HAVE BABY AFTER BABY -FATHER'S OF THOSE BABIES NOT PAYING NO CHILD SUPPORT-WHY SHOULD WE ALL PAY FOR THE KID'S THE KEEP HAVING?? THEY ARE NOT OUR KID'S--THEY ALSO SELL THEIR FOOD STAMP'S---- AND WE HAVE TO PAY HIGH TAXES???-- THAT IS BULLCRAP--AND OBAMA ENDORCES THAT BEHAVIOR---WHAT A JERK OBAMA IS!!!HIS MOTHER WAS ON WELFARE SO NOW HE IS HELPING THE LAZY IDIOT'S --CHECK ON THAT!!! WHERE IN THE HELL IS OBAMA REAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE? HE IS PAYING WITH YOUR TAX MONEY OVER 2 MILLION DOLLARS TO KEEP THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE AND HIS COLLEGE PAPER'S HID OR SEALED ALSO THAT STUPIED LIVE BIRTH HAWIIAN IS NOT A REAL BIRTH CERTIFATE-HE CAME UP WITH-ONE COULD GO DOWN TO TIA-JUANA AND HAVE A "LIVE BIRTH CERTIFCATE" MADE ON REVOLUTION STREET--ISN'T THERE ANY REAL ATTY OUT THERE THAT CAN LOOK INTO THIS ?? OR ARE THEY TOO SCARED OF THIS CHICAGO CORRUPT BUM THEY CALL "PRESIDENT?" PEE HERMAN WOULD HAVE BEEN A BETTER PRESIDENT AT LEAST WE KNOW WHERE PEE WEE HERMAN WAS BORN!!!IN AMERICA!!!-IMPEACH THESE IDIOT'S-INCLUDING BOTEX POLOSI & REID-DOWD-RANGEL & KERRY!!! WHAT A BUNCH OF BUMS THEY ARE!!--THEY ARE NOTHING BUT CRAP IN MANEY AMERICAN EYES,, RAISING TAXES IS TERRIBLE--EVERYONE- HIDE YOU MONEY AND IF YOU OWN A BUSINESS-LAY OFF FROM YOUR LOWEST IN SENIORITY OR YOU WILL GO DOWN THE TUBES!! SORRY BUT IT IS THE TRUTH..THE OBAMA'S ARE FOR OBAMA'S -IMAGINE MICHELLE HAS 27 ON HER STAFF!AND OUR BEAUTIFUL FIRST LADY LAURA BUSH HAD ONLY THREE.. MICHELLE COULD HAVE 100 ON HER STAFF STILL LOOKS HORRIBLE--IMAGINE HER HUGE BUTT COMING OFF AIR FORCE ONE WITH HER UGLY SHORT SHORTS SHE SHOULD HAVE COVERED HER H-U-G-E- BUTT--HOW FIRST LADY WAS THAT?? PEOPLE BEHIDE HER WERE LAUGHING AT HER-HER PHOTO'S NOW ARE ALL DOCTORED UP THEY MAKE LOOK SLIM LET ME TELL SHE IS STILL HUGE!-SHE IS ANOTHER JOKE!--ALSO DO YOU SEE THEIR GIRLS GOING TO REGULAR SCHOOLS?
HELL NO!!AND MICHELLE MOM ALSO LIVES-IN WHITE HOUSE ON YOUR DIME!!
Obama's Gulf War –
"Mud In Your Eye"
From hostage to hero?
Mud in your eye, in your nose, in your throat?
You were standing too close to BP's "static kill".
Can you believe it? Their BOPs blew out.
So now we can add even more to their bill.
Thad Allen's a hero. They were holding him hostage
Hoping he'd tell them to restart the flow
So we'd have to share in the cost of their screw-up,
But now we're the ones who'll decide what they owe.
By extending "integrity" testing until
BP could again shoot itself in the foot,
He's made sure his good guys can't be held responsible
For the most hated company going kaput.
Bob Carlson
www.politicalboondoggles.com
7/22/10
To 'BP Holding the Gulf Hostage to Hide Actual Flow Rate'
To 'BP Is Given Another 24 Hours for Testing'
To 'Rift Grows Between Government and BP'
To 'BP Top Kill Redux'
To 'BP "Test" - Gush, Baby, Gush as We Wait, Baby, Wait'
To 'In BP’s Record,
a History of Boldness and Costly Blunders'
To 'Oil Blowout Preventers Known to Fail'
To 'British Petroleum Incompetence'
Obama's Gulf War –
A Pig In A Poke
How much does BP's pig weigh?
We've all seen the pig that they're trying to sell us,
But have they convinced us as to what the pig "weighs."
From the start all we've gotten is British baloney
Promulgated by more of Lord Browne's popinjays.
In the beginning they told us one thousand
Barrels per day, which a few of us bought.
But skeptics screamed and it went to five thousand,
Which to many others didn't seem like a lot.
So why were they drilling if that's all their getting?
Then suddenly they were collecting much more,
And with their new cap could get sixty thousand
Unless more begins seeping around the well bore.
Their goal's to keep testing it ad infinitum.
Collecting more oil would give their game away.
How many stratagems must they come up with
Till Barton reminds us how little some British pigs weigh?
Bob Carlson
www.politicalboondoggles.com
7/19/10
To 'BP Hopes to Keep Gulf Well Closed'
To 'Estimated Oil Flow Rates From the 'Macondo' Well'
To 'BP "Test" - Gush, Baby, Gush as We Wait, Baby, Wait'
To 'Joe Barton Apology-Fest Continues'
To 'British Petroleum Incompetence'
I think BP wants to try another sort of top kill now that the flow of oil is stopped. Probably do a kill from the top and then another one from the bottom. Maybe thats the gameplan anyway. I hope it works.
I was watching Anderson Cooper last night on TV and he kept repeating that if this well is not opened back up again and all the oil sent to surface ships for collection, that we will never know how much oil was spilled.
Then it hit me.....Anderson, your wrong!!! Any mechanical engineer or matmetician, can calculate: 1)the wellhead pressure they thought they should have (based on bottom hole pressure on the day of the blowout 8000-9000 PSI) and 2) the wellhead pressure as of right now 6700 PSI, to obtain a "daily well pressure" number for the entire period this well has been flowing.
Once these mechanical engineers and scientists have a daily wellhead pressure calculated, they can then perform another calculation based on: 1)wellhead pressure, 2) wellhead opening diameter, 3) tmeperature of the oil coming out of the well, 4) viscosity of the oil, etc. to come up with a very very accurate number of barrels of oil per day that has escaped from this well. There will be no guessing as like they have been telling us these estimates of 35-60K per day. The very thing that makes this all possible now to calculate is that the well is shut in and we know what the well pressure was to begin with at the bottom hole, and we now have a wellhead pressure to work from. Those are known numbers. From there we can move forward to complete the equation.
Sorry BP. Your not going to get out of paying $$$ for all that oil you spilled in the Gulf. Obtaining a exact number is not going to be a mystry for our scientists and engineers. You may be able to dupe a few of us into believing there is no exact science into figuring this out, but not all of us, and those are the folks who are going to make you pay up.
Go get em Obama.
BTW, I think any fines and penalty moneys collected by the government against BP, should go straight to the Fienberg relief fund and be distributed to the citezens, business's, counties, parrish's, and States of the Gulf that were affected by BP's negligence.
BOB,
Enter the Dark side Of The Force with me for an answer to just one question that has been bugging me.
What would it take for a bottom kill to NOT work?
Thanks, I'm sure knowing a plausible answer to that question will help us all sleep better at night and may give an insight into why BP decided to cap this well.
The line in the sand is being drawn. BP is revealing how scared they are of establishing a flow rate despite it being lower than when the well was at full pressure. My view is that Federal Marshals should be on the collection vessels NOW to avoid BP taking a desperate actions. If Allen has the guts to say start collection immediately then he gives them 12 hours to begin. No BS about pressure relieving etc. Hook up the riser and the two sets of Choke/kill lines and have at it.
It is obvious that BP will try to not open the valves completely and offer technical snow-jobs. That is why Marshals are needed at each collection vessel and at the two BOP control stations. Include U.S. citizens experienced in drilling and production on the vessels to monitor and prevent hanky-panky. This is VERY serious business. BP has already killed eleven people and faces criminal negligence charges. Desperate people do desperate things as we have seen from the original explosion.
I agree on the Cronkite statement. But BIG money talks. Houston judges already on BP payroll.
As far as I can see the VISION is broke. Where there is no sustainable vision, the people perish. The visionless criminal elite media, politicians, banksters, corporations, warmongers, etc. have put this country (USA), this world (because we have spread our errors), on a course that is totally unsustainable. We are raping the planet in order to sustain the "growth forever" Ponzi scheme economic model, birth model of adding more consumers...
My rant. It could be a lot longer. What does a different sustainable vision of the future look like? Probably a world population of about 500 million who live in harmony with Nature as their brother/sister and not something to be exploited for profit. Thank God I don't have that many more years left to live on this battlefield we call Earth but our children do and from what I can see they face a horrible future that will unfold in the next decade.
I'm visiting China. 1) Industrial chemical spill killed fish in a smallish rural river: clean up, compensation to people in area, EPA official in charge of region fired - TV shows government testing and the river clean with people swimming again in it. 2) Within week, mine accident killed several miners (others await rescue), mine owner under arrest in police custody not out on bond. 3) A day or 2 ago, Oil tanker offloading at a harbor somehow triggered pipeline fire that endangered huge oil tanks on docks and has caused 15 sq km spill in harbor [dispersants are being used]. Soldiers successfully battled huge blaze and prevented further disaster. 4) Right now much flooding is occurring around China [in decades past they deforested Tibetan head water areas] that is often battled by the soldiers.
Difference in the propaganda: here the Government wants the people to know that it is doing everything it can to promote their welfare and protection. [And it's not just talk: massive infrastructure improvement/construction is manifest]. In the USA, we're constantly berated for expecting our government to do anything to promote public welfare; our media and the actions of the government demonstrate that the USA is powerless to protect its citizens from the actual [as opposed to imaginary terrorist] destruction of our country by Big Monopolies; so the role of citizens: transfer our wealth via taxes to criminal monopoly capital.
There is an old saying that "beyond a certain level of stupidity cunning must be presumed." Isn't it plainly stupid not to open up one of the existing risers and/or tie the Enterprise to the top of the stack and start collecting oil AND relieving the pressure? That would reduce the risk of the BIG BLOW OUT. I've read everything I can find. I'm just a poor country lawyer, but it appears BP doesn't want to collect oil. Can anybody give me any other plausible explanation why they would not start collecting oil?
BOB , a recent piece from this afternoon nola.com indicates a possible leak / seep near the well and possible methane. More interesting is the push / pull between bp and USCG - bp clearly wants to keep the well shut in while the USCG still seems to be trotting out the line they are still testing - while criticizing bp for not monitoring as ordered. USCG will allow testing for now but reserves the right to shut down the testing if they don't get the response they want..... Question , why is the USCG allowing bp to continually improvise on the fly ( shut in morphing from prior containment scheme for the cap , 6-48 hor testing morphing into to day by by 24 hour cap test scheme - until possibly the relief wells get completed . ) And now that cap is in place and oil isn't leaking , can bp be ordered by the USCG without violating pollution laws anyway ? IF you can Bob , could you address the last question of mine - I don't think I've seen this question discussed to date.... thanks
BP – Feds Clash Over Reopening Capped Well – Evidence For Seep Has Appeared
http://www.kentucky.com/2010/07/18/1354421/bp-feds-clash-over-reopening-capped.html
A seep and possible methane were found near the busted oil well. The official spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because an announcement about the next steps had not been made yet.
The concern all along - since pressure readings on the cap weren't as high as expected - was a leak elsewhere in the wellbore, meaning the cap may have to be reopened to prevent the environmental disaster from becoming even worse and harder to fix.
The official, who would not clarify what is seeping near the well, also said BP is not complying with the government's demand for more monitoring.
My understanding of Thad Allen's statement on Saturday was that the well needs to be opened and flowing for the Bottom Kill (how else will mud get up into the well bore?). It seems unlikely to me that a week from now when they start drilling the final 100 feet of the RW that the govt will allow that drilling with the well pressurized. So BP has a week to test and get the collection gear organized.
-Jim
I lived in GOM area during college and years after; my son grew up there. From PanamaCity to CedarKeyFla.
Bob, if not for your reports I dont think anyone would know whats going on 'behind' the curtain. (the iron curtain? or is it Oz?)
Thanks again.
It's pretty sad when the government can run amok in other countries, destroy infrastructure, cropland, and people in these other lands with seeming impunity and yet cannot assert itself when it comes to monitoring BP's shenanigans. And why does BP run the show at all. The prove their incompetence. We need people on this who have demonstrated competence in deepwater operations, regardless of proprietary information or liability. This is much bigger than one giant combine to be wasting time over.
Bob,
2 questions:
1.How is the amount of the fine determined?
2.What would you do if you had complete control of this situation?
Thanks,
Chris
until a relief well intersects the blow-out, making it impossible to prove exact flow rate over the last 90 days, the only way BP's lawyers would let them take the cap off is if a rupture starts bubbling up from the sea-bed or somehow Adm. Allen can un-cap the well himself.
the only way we will know there is such a sea-bed rupture is if it is shown to us by BP's ROV's - failure to release all the data on pressure build up makes it appear that now it's capped, there will be no more production until a relief well intersects and flow is thus diverted/co-mingled into legal blurriness.
you can bet as far as the lawyers are concerned now, a pressure build up would have to destroy the BOP/capping stack for there to be any more hydrocarbons released before a relief well starts to blur things production-wise.
the Coast Guard will have to prove the sea-bed is leaking due to a side blow-out if they want to force BP to un-cap the well, and BP might very well refuse, saying " we disagree we caused the sea-bed leak you think you've found, so if you want us to un-cap this blow-out, then we will just be working for you, the U.S. gov't., and you will be responsible for any and all operations after this point - we'll be sending you a daily invoice for our services to the U.S. gov't. "
it's ' too big to fail ' GoM style.
This does not make sense! How can anyone at BP think that their total cost from releasing the oil into the environment will be less than the incremental cost of a fine resulting from an accurate measurement of the flow? That increment could go either way, depending on the skill of the lawyers.
If this were really the reason for their delays and obfuscations, surely someone would have worked out a deal with the government - drop the fines and let us get this job done.
BP will have to release the information at some point, if only to respond to the multitude of lawsuits. Hopefully, the lawyers involved will have someone tell them what to really ask for. And, MMS (or successors) can compel the release if they push hard enough.
As an aside, and despite working for companies with GOM properties, I've never understood why the lease holders are allowed to keep most of the data on GOM leases secret. All the seismic, production data, logs, etc should be public domain. Yes, releasing the information might help another company bid more on an adjacent lease, but that's in the best interests of the US as a whole
Voice, your first sentence states what is going on - we, not journalists, are letting BP and the Obama administration get away with this. Bob's point is spot on - this is our national resource, it belongs to us.
We need to take ownership of it and demand that our democratically elected officials do their damn jobs.
This type of behavior from foreign corporations, from elected officials, from public servants doesn't happen in a democracy of the people, by the people, for the people. This type of behavior is done in countries run by dictators and cabals, where the public is told the most convenient lies and the public dutifully submits.
I don't understand the silence, I don't understand the acceptance, I don't understand why the anger I know exists, hasn't bubbled up into action.
I am very worried about our Gulf and the loss of so many resources - and the toxicity unleashed by the oil dispersants used. I'm very worried about the clean up workers' health and the loss of wildlife and losing some of our very fragile wildlife, like the Ridley sea turtle, our Brown Pelicans and the algae that flamingos need for their coloring.
Why is BP being allowed to continue to run the entire operation? Why are they being allowed to say who goes in certain parts of the Gulf and who can't? Why does BP have any say so in what safety equipment clean up providers can or can not have? What is going on?
I commend you for setting the record straight Sunday AM so the inconsistencies of the BP position will begin to reverberate by Monday PM TV news programs. I expect you will be in even greater prime time demand then usual.
It has been a huge mistake to allow top BP execs to actively participate in crisis management. This was duly noted in this blog soon after the story broke ("hire an independent team and send BP the bill.") and has been repeatedly validated. Top BP management brings no unique technical expertise to the effort, they simply look out for corporate interests at the expense of all the other Gulf Coast Stakeholders. BP's act is slicker (Tony free), but not one iota more honest. Admiral Allen is only nominally in command.
I would note that the June23rd letter from Rep. Markey remains essentially unresponded to by BP cocnerning wellbore data and the USCG also hasn't responded to a similar letter from Rep Markey for information and data allegedly supplied by BP to the USCG.
BP is not Buckingham Palace - issuing statements, using the press as their mouth piece; guess BP will only react to pressure from Sen. Markey and maybe another engraved invitation to visit with some committee under oath.
remember, to BP we are just another oil concession causing a little problem for these global guys - we just need " managing " until a hurricane comes along to disperse oil across the GoM and something else distracts the media; by Sept. the media will be focusing on elections, anyway.
We're letting BP get away with the same kind of BS that they let Bush get away with for years.
What is going on? Was the death of Walter Cronkite truly the death of journalistic integrity and accountability in this country?
I just don't get it.