BP Oil Spill Updates

It's interesting that they can't find the oil. Those little bugs have been busy.

Found an interesting article that leads one to believe that the US Coast Guard may have contributed to the severity of the leak (or at least to the sinking of the platform) .... see http://www.publicintegrity.org/articles/entry/2286/

ShilohLady wrote: Found an interesting article that leads one to believe that the US Coast Guard may have contributed to the severity of the leak (or at least to the sinking of the platform) .... see http://www.publicintegrity.org/articles/entry/2286/

While I find such an admission admirable, I think it is wrong. This was an emergency. Would not spraying water have saved lives or prevented the rig from sinking? I doubt it. A floating rig sinks when under two conditions. The first is if the integrity of its flotation devises fail. The second is if gas rises under it that changes the buoyancy of the water. Given that a rising gas bubble was blamed on the explosion, I'd be inclined to investigate it as the primary cause rather than water being poured on the platform. That is simply my line of reasoning and it will be interesting to see the final conclusions drawn by the experts on the investigation.

Whether or not it contributed to the sinking of the platform, the fact remains that, even this long after Katrina, most federal agencies, with the exception of USFS, have a deplorable lack of knowledge of the Incident Command System (ICS).

Statement from National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen on Relief Well Intercept

"I have received extensive briefings over the last 24 hours regarding the final effort to intercept the Macondo well. Through a combination of sensors embedded in the drilling equipment and sophisticated instrumentation that is capable of sensing distance to the well casing, BP engineers and the federal science team have concluded that the Development Driller III relief well has intersected the Macondo well. This determination was made based on a loss of drilling fluids that indicated communication had been established beyond the relief well, the pressure exerted against the drill bit as it came in contact with the well casing and, finally, an increase in pressure in the choke line of the Macondo well blow out preventer. While each of these indicators taken separately would not necessarily be conclusive, the aggregate data available supports the conclusion that the two wells are joined. It is also important to note that none of the measurements supported a scenario where the annulus of the well is in communication with the reservoir. Accordingly, we intend to proceed with preparation to cement the annulus and complete the bottom kill of the well. Further information will be provided as cementing procedures are completed."

Source

DATE: September 19, 2010 10:37:12 AM CDT
Statement from Admiral Allen on the Successful Completion of the Relief Well

"After months of extensive operations planning and execution under the direction and authority of the U.S. government science and engineering teams, BP has successfully completed the relief well by intersecting and cementing the well nearly 18,000 feet below the surface. With this development, which has been confirmed by the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, we can finally announce that the Macondo 252 well is effectively dead. Additional regulatory steps will be undertaken but we can now state, definitively, that the Macondo well poses no continuing threat to the Gulf of Mexico. From the beginning, this response has been driven by the best science and engineering available. We insisted that BP develop robust redundancy measures to ensure that each step was part of a deliberate plan, driven by science, minimizing risk to ensure we did not inflict additional harm in our efforts to kill the well. I commend the response personnel, both from the government and private sectors, for seeing this vital procedure through to the end. And although the well is now dead, we remain committed to continue aggressive efforts to clean up any additional oil we may see going forward."

Additional Background:

The cement pressure test on the DDIII relief well was completed at 5:54 a.m. CDT.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement has confirmed that the cementing operation on the Macondo well was successful, that the well has been permanently sealed with cement plugs, and that pressure tests verify the integrity of the plugs.

Oversight of the well now transitions from the National Incident Command to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement under the process laid out in the National Response Framework.

The Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement will oversee the continuing decommissioning of the Macondo well and its associated relief wells.

Source

Seriously, I'm glad to see it...

But now BP can get about the serious business of screwing all of the residents of the area. Anybody that believes those commercials about "We'll be here until it's back the way it was (and/or until it's 'fixed')" cannot be serious.