BP Oil Spill Updates

Too funny. Necessity is the father of invention once again. Good to see this development.

The following is a statement from National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen:


"After reviewing Bob Dudley's response to my July 8 letter outlining BP's proposed plan of action for oil containment efforts, and consulting top government scientists and engineers including Secretary Chu, I approved BP's plan to simultaneously install the Helix Producer and "capping stack" containment mechanisms, which will require temporary suspension of the current top hat containment system. I validated this plan because the capacity for oil containment when these installations are complete will be far greater than the capabilities we have achieved using current systems. In addition, favorable weather expected over the coming days will provide the working conditions necessary for these transitions to be successfully completed without delays. The transition to this new containment infrastructure could begin in the next days but will take seven to ten days to complete. I have also directed BP to provide daily briefings and regular informational updates to the media throughout this capping process"

Source

Bob Dudley's response, referenced above - http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com ... 770167.pdf

The containment cap has been removed.

http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_interne ... _ROV1.html

The ROVs from Ocean Intervention III are working to unbolt the flange - http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?cat ... Id=7062605

Subsea operational update:


Installing the sealing cap is proceeding as planned

Enterprise removed LMRP Cap (approx. 12:40 pm CDT, July 10) and then moved off location to lighter;
Subsea dispersant U shaped wand was inserted in the riser;
A plug was removed from the flange and have started to loosen bolts.

For the first 12 hours on July 10 (midnight to noon), approximately 7,096 barrels of oil were collected and approximately 4,040 barrels of oil and 25.4 million cubic feet of natural gas were flared.

Enterprise removed LMRP Cap (approx. 12:40 pm CDT, July 10) and then moved off location to lighter;
Subsea dispersant U shaped wand was inserted in the riser;

I have no idea what that means.

The containment cap which had been placed over the sheared off end of the riser pipe, and which was used to feed oil/gas to the Enterprise, was removed. The Enterprise then moved out of the way to transfer captured oil to another vessel.

They placed a wand down into the top of the now uncontained riser to insert dispersant into the oil, to help minimize the effects of the now uncontained oil release.

This is my understanding, and hope it is helpful.

Is any of the oil they are collecting refineable? If not what are they doing with it?

My understanding is that all the oil collected directly from the well is refineable. I'm not sure about what they collect thru the skimming operations.

I guess I should post a disclaimer here.......

I know nothing about oil well operations beyond what I have picked up thru reading about and watching the operations since the Deepwater Horizon explosion.

jf1acai wrote: My understanding is that all the oil collected directly from the well is refineable. I'm not sure about what they collect thru the skimming operations.

I guess I should post a disclaimer here.......

I know nothing about oil well operations beyond what I have picked up thru reading about and watching the operations since the Deepwater Horizon explosion.

All oil is refinable. I is only a matter of chemistry related to boiling points for different chemicals (in this case hydrocarbons). You need to remember that all oli in the subsurfaces comes in contact with saline water at some point during it's history of migration into a reservoir. Even tar balls can be refined. They still represent live hydrocarbons capable of being broken down into shorter hydrocarbon chains.