BP Turns To Backup Strategy To Plug Well

reply to post by Greensage


No... To put it bluntly... 90% of the people of the world don't know anything about the industry but 99.9% of them don't mind believing everything that they read on the net... Wells are denoted as gas or oil by the ratio of gas to oil (gas is converted to equivalent liquid volume and the ratio is calculated from that). The ratio is called GOR or Gas / Oil ratio... the Maconda appears to be a gas well which is no surprise to me. There's a fine line between the definition of oil and condensate. Each contains components of the other.

The cold temperature and extreme pressure that the leak is at causes what are otherwise gaseous components to condense. The cold liquid forms the "plumes" that everyone is so excited about (you cannot imagine the number of people that thought I was a loon when I mentioned that I thought the hydrocarbon liquid condensing from the wellhead was staying beneath the surface and slowly rising rather than coming to the surface quickly almost a month ago.). As it rises, the pressure lowers and the temperature increases. This causes the lighter ends to convert back to gas (In this order- Methane, Ethane, Propane). Over time we'll begin to see more oil UNLESS the dispersant affects it in a way that I'm not familiar with (very likely).

[edit on 6/29/2010 by Mike6158]

reply to post by ladyinwaiting


Nice post.. that is exactly what is going on.. I wish I knew of a way to get BP to stop using dispersants.. I feel helpless.. I've signed the petition, written to my representative, senators, and even the white house.. doesn't seem to be enough.. not enough people care.. less than 5,000 signatures on the petition

reply to post by ladyinwaiting

Saving money or something else. I read today that the hurricane might delay them by 10-14 days, even though it's not going directly over the well. WTH!? hurricanes typically pass it a day. Does anyone know why it would take them almost two weeks to get back up and running? And while they're on hiatus, what happens? It continues gushing and then the next hurricane comes along.

They are stalling. No doubt about it.

reply to post by Mike6158


Sorry...I think I lost the thread/ What are those wells?

reply to post by ~Lucidity


According to what they've said on the news tonight, the coast guard has ordered them to bring the ships in. Apparently the waves are too rough for them to be out there.

What a mess.

reply to post by Morpheas


what petition?
i'll sign to stop using dispersants!

reply to post by Morpheas



Yes, where is this petition? I'll pass it around to everyone I know. I keep saying everyone on the planet should be marching on Washington about this!!!!!

I also think the reason that it seems like no one cares is that the media is barely talking about it to begin with. Anderson Cooper just last night, delved into more than anyone else that I have seen. I just don't understand WHY it has taken this long. I posted something about it on my FB page & no one had any idea what I was talking about.

I feel like the house is on fire & everyone is just wondering what to watch on tv.

Originally posted by ~Lucidity
reply to post by Mike6158

 

Sorry...I think I lost the thread/ What are those wells?

Those are just a few of the wells in the area of and in deeper water than the Maconda. The Maconda wasn't as "exploratory" as some think.

I may have found some common ground here. I can not understand why the Feds have been doing what they have been doing. It seems like they want the oil to hit the beaches and for the well to leak into the GOM for as long as possible. Everything they do seems to be designed to exacerbate the problem

BP, welcome to the world of panic attacks, insomnia, loss of appetite, and complete exhaustion.

My honest thoughts are those folks are in a real jam here, in more ways than one.

They are like Iran. They are surrounded.

The American people, (and now the global community to some degree) are screaming bloody murder, and they have enormous pressure from this.

At the same time, they know what they are doing to our coastline, waters, and the effect it is having on local industry, as well as private lives. This HAS to be haunting for *most* of them.

At the same time, they have shareholders pressuring them, because they don't want to see investments diminishing, and are concerned if in the end, this could destroy their corporation.

They are trying to juggle all these balls, and are consequently moving to the middle. I think they are trying like hell to stop this gusher, but are trying to do it in the most cost-effective way.

But I feel like what another poster said. When the house is on fire, you don't stop to worry about the water bill.

Another thought.

I honestly believe they are doing everything they can to stop it. In the above post, I'm not speaking to what is going on underneath the water, at shall we say "ground zero".

I'm referring to what is going on above the water, with clean up.

I mentioned in a post here last night, that Greece has offered their equipment, ships, etc. in the clean-up effort. I did not get the impression they are offering their services as "good samaritans". They want to be paid. And they want BP to pay them, and BP has declined.

This, is my beef du jour. BP should pay whoever they need to pay.

reply to post by ladyinwaiting


Honestly... I can't figure out what is going on as far as the cleanup has gone. The Coast Guard has stopped vessels from working. They stopped Louisiana from building sand berms... They pushed all kinds of things to stop the leak that had no chance of working. I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist but it seems like our government wants the mess to be as big as possible and last for as long as possible.