posted on Mar, 5 2011 @ 06:19 PM
reply to post by Ektar
Couldn't resist not commenting on Ektar's posting of the vessel/rig locations. Great Job by the way.
I wrote a much longer post earlier but lost it. Anyway, DD3 back at well A or the broken well S20BC (can't really tell) can't be good. It suggests
that hydrocarbon has resumed spewing out of the fractured formation thru the faulted pathways, not necessary at the plugged wells themselves but
around them.
DD3 was previously 3 to 6 km north of well A, at the southern edges of the shelf slopes. Ektar could you move the labels out of the way (in future)
so that we can see the crevices blocked by the labels.
DE and VR are at the giant crevices at the upper edges of the sliding Whiting Dome. There was some reports (years back) by NOAA on the stability and
the slide movement. Please check it up and post if you have the time. It is possible that hydrocarbons had found their way thru the fractured edges of
the salt domes.
Also read the profitable deployment of rigs in an “out of budget- no cost control” recovery program.
bklim.newsvine.com...
Four Drilling Rigs at Site
We can argue until the cows come home on BP’s intentions but does BP really need four expensive rigs at the cost of 0.5 to 1 million USD/day at the
Macondo site? Even if they need to drill more wells (relief or otherwise) it would stretch resources to the hilt with 5 wells going together within
the same site. But if the intention is to chalk up tax-deductible expenses for the idling rigs then it made sense. No wonder the recovery costs keep
ballooning especially in early November with an additional 7.7 billion USD.
Normal exploration budgets are guided by precedence. In a mega disaster, there is virtually no cost control. Would BP exploit the disaster to dump all
their idling rigs into the Macondo site? You bet BP will, given its opportunistic instincts. BP’s unfortunate partners (Mitsui and Anadarko) will
have to foot 10% and 25% respectively. Few would dare to question the need for four drilling rigs under classified disaster circumstances. Is that why
the Live Feed from West Sirius ROV1 is still shown on BP’s website even though West Sirius had moved out of the Macondo site to park at the edge of
Mississippi Canyon, south of Grand Isle? Obviously the ROV1 cannot be deployed from West Sirius to work at the Macondo site 165km away. Alternatively
if the ROV1 is working at the Mississippi Canyon (for whatever reasons), the daily operation cost of West Sirius cannot be charged to the Macondo
Post-Disaster Recovery Program (MPDRP). Any responsible corporate would not cheat and evade tax on an unfortunate disaster.