Why no casing = No Relief Wells

June 30, 2010 SJR- I’ve been following Matt Simmons commentary throughout this Gulf Oil Disaster, and he has repeated many times that the relief wells will not work without the casing.

He has also stated that the casing is gone, and that there is no casing for the relief wells to pierce and fill.

Listening to him, I never understood why they could not just pump a boat load of concrete into the open well hole. Maybe even concrete and large steel shot, like steel balls 2" to 4" in diameter. I figured that the combination of that kind of stuff pumped in under extreme pressures might be able to plug the well from below.

Then, while browsing ‘The Oil Drum’ I read the following comments circled in red:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/68bf2f2bc661.png[/atsimg]


That’s when the concept of HOW they are going to HIT A 7" WELL TARGET some 15,000 to 25,000 feet below the surface finally hit me. They are going to get close [within 100 feet?] of the well casing and then perform MAGNETIC TESTS to find the hole.

The MAGNETIC TESTS are the key to finding the well bore, and the magnetic test are looking for the steel casing. Without the casing there is nothing to 'see', hence:

IF THE CASING IS GONE, IT’S GAME OVER for the Relief Wells.

Perhaps this is why, Matt Simmons is pushing for the ‘nuke option’ so hard.


Here is the full screen shot that the above pic was taken from:
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/37f1230ce742.png[/atsimg]

I think the casing is damaged near the top of the sea floor but is still there.. I have had a hard time finding how bad the casing is damaged.. I can't imagine it being totally gone.. but I do believe it is damaged.

Originally posted by Morpheas
I think the casing is damaged near the top of the sea floor but is still there.. I have had a hard time finding how bad the casing is damaged.. I can't imagine it being totally gone.. but I do believe it is damaged.

I believe the the question is not the conditon of the casing near the top of the well, but deep under the seabed where then need to intersect it for the 'bottom-kill' to work.

reply to post by Gold_Bug


That was my impression.. that the damage is near the top of the sea floor and is fine down where they are going to enter with the relief wells.. but I don't know as it is hard to find much information on where the damage is and how bad.



[edit on 6/30/2010 by Morpheas]

reply to post by Morpheas


Well, consider that in order for the casing to break in the first place, which presumably happened a few weeks ago, considerable wear & tear must have already occurred. With pressure somewhere over 20,000 PSIs (some estimates are far higher), and since the material coming out is abrasive, it's possible that the entire structure has been worn away by now.

But I thought the casing was concrete, not metal. The pipeline itself is metal. Isn't that still somewhat intact? If so then the scans might work.

Originally posted by Son of Will
reply to post by Morpheas

 

Well, consider that in order for the casing to break in the first place, which presumably happened a few weeks ago, considerable wear & tear must have already occurred. With pressure somewhere over 20,000 PSIs (some estimates are far higher), and since the material coming out is abrasive, it's possible that the entire structure has been worn away by now.

But I thought the casing was concrete, not metal. The pipeline itself is metal. Isn't that still somewhat intact? If so then the scans might work.

I gave you a star for your thinking.
I guess time will tell. Let's hope that if the magnetic thing doesn't work, then maybe they can use sonar to detect the well bore. It would seem to me that that fluid rushing up the hole would make a hell of a lot of racket.

Here, I'll add this for consideration to this discussion:

Second pipe may have crippled BP well's defense mechanism

"BP officials said it was impossible." R I G H T ....