Question for any oil/geology experts. How permanent is this planned fix to pump mud and concrete in the hole? It seems to me concrete would degrade over time under pressure and salt water conditions? Will it last 100 years? 500 years? It seems to me concrete fails over time.
Wouldn't it be better to pump the field out to reduce the pressure and potential for future leaks? Just wondering???
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How do they cap any undersea well that has become under or non-productive? Don't these also have the potential of 'reopening' over time against the caps. Who's to say that shifts in the crust can not increase pressure on these wells over time? Or that the fields can become viable again after time? Who is responsible for revisiting these old drilling sites to make sure these leaks aren't occuring?
Joe wrote: Question for any oil/geology experts. How permanent is this planned fix to pump mud and concrete in the hole? It seems to me concrete would degrade over time under pressure and salt water conditions? Will it last 100 years? 500 years? It seems to me concrete fails over time.
Wouldn't it be better to pump the field out to reduce the pressure and potential for future leaks? Just wondering???
Concrete plugs are standard for plugging a well. Mud use in drilling is not the stuff you find in mud puddle. Instead it is a very carefully engineered slurry whose wight is designed to offset reservoir pressure. It itself does not degrade even if a cement plug were to degrade. The cement also is highly engineered. Think about the cement used in dams and for causeway pillars. These not only have exposure to water and sea water respectively, but are also subject to physical stresses such as wave action and currents, both of which impose physical wear. Having said all that, an oil reservoir such as the one in question will not last 100 years. Before that time the oil will be depleted and replaced by sea water. Oil reservoir pressures capable of spewing oil come largely from an expanding gas cap at the top of the oil. Once depleted, mature oil fields require the installation of pumps or the injection of gas to bring the remaining oil to the surface. Hence it is not to be feared that a similar catastrophe awaits us down the road 100 years later from this particular field.
Joe wrote: Question for any oil/geology experts. How permanent is this planned fix to pump mud and concrete in the hole? It seems to me concrete would degrade over time under pressure and salt water conditions? Will it last 100 years? 500 years? It seems to me concrete fails over time.
Wouldn't it be better to pump the field out to reduce the pressure and potential for future leaks? Just wondering???
Ha ha ha- No Joe, it's not going to spew oil into eternity. For reasons too complicated to explain in laymens terms eventually the pressure will subside and the threat of further large scale leaks will be negligible at best.
Vice Lord wrote: "For reasons too complicated to explain in laymens terms"....Translation: I don't know WTF I am talking about.... LOL
VL, I thought you were a lowly Union Airline Baggage handler? What do you know about oil wells? BTW, I am still missing some bags from a Chicago flight in 1998. Do you have them? LOL
If you want to be, press one. If you want not to be, press 2
Republicans are red, democrats are blue, neither of them, gives a flip about you.
