BP Oil Spill Updates

The latest from Bloomberg:

[clipsynd:32hztu4f] www.clipsyndicate.com/video/play/1488702?wpid=8958 [/clipsynd:32hztu4f]

And think of all the tourism dollars that will not be spent along the Gulf Coast as a result of oil-stained beaches...

[clipsynd:32hztu4f] www.clipsyndicate.com/video/play/1488767?wpid=8958 [/clipsynd:32hztu4f]

Speaking of Internet addiction, I have been mesmerized by the live feed from BP today.

They may have screwed up big time, but they certainly have advanced technological capabilities and some very qualified people working hard on this.

Keep this channel clear for updates- We can start another thread for commentary

:rofl

I suspect the desired response was 'Yes, Massa' errrr, Manna.....




But, in your dreams!


:rofl

It is good to see a few peopel appreciating the positive elements of this. This comment not to mitigate horrible results of this accident. We (retorical) need to dig in, shut up the BS dialogue by politicians, and get after it. I'm more of a doer than a talker.

Keep your insights of what you observe onthe live feed coming. I much appreciate your comments jf1acai.

[clipsynd:3nrrg5pt] www.clipsyndicate.com/video/play/1490075?wpid=8958 [/clipsynd:3nrrg5pt]

[clipsynd:3nrrg5pt] www.clipsyndicate.com/video/play/1490149?wpid=8958 [/clipsynd:3nrrg5pt]

Whenever something like this happens a "fall guy" is necessary, this the perspective of those who are trying to cover their own ass. I may have to contact one of my long time friends who has been at BP for nearly 30 years and get his take and possible insights into what they were drilling into out there. I can not believe the flow is from turbidite sands alone.

Deep horizon should have made an average of 600 feet of hole in the unconsolidated section and around 480 feet in rock. I do not know the thickness of overburden in the Gulf so I'm going to go conservative in my calculations and use 480 ft/day. At this rate it takes 30 days to drill 14400 feet (thats a little more than 2.7 miles). This does not allow for breaks in drilling for changing bits, etc. So for a conservative estimate, lets make it 10,000 feet in a month or 20,000 feet (3.8 mi) in two months. Comments are that it will take nearly two months to drill the relief wells. I expect those wells will be deviated (drilled at an angle) thus the reservoir is likely somewhere between 13-16 thousand feet below the sea floor. At such a depth, they may well be into carbonate reservoirs instead of the sandstone that makes up turbidite reservoirs. Could it be that they have found cavernous porosity that far out? My knowledge of the Gulf coast would argue against that being the case, however.

I say the relief wells will be fully operational on September 5th, what say you Rock?

Vice Lord wrote: I say the relief wells will be fully operational on September 5th, what say you Rock?

There are too many unknowns for me to make an intelligent guess. Missing is information on the depth of the reservoir (that is why I tried to back into it via drill rates), the amount of well deviation, how far away they are drilling from the blown well, whether or not they have a salt wing to penetrate (Salt makes for very slow drilling because it is mobile and will want to pinch off the well bore), and bit wear and replacement frequency (each replacement means pulling out of the hole and uncoupling the drill pipe, stacking it and then putting it together again, all a long procedure when you have up to 4.5 miles of pipe. At 90 feet per length of pipe that means over 270 sections of pipe.

Having said that, here is my take. If we take that they have already been drilling two weeks and they estimate two months (barring unforeseen problems like loosing the drill string in the hole and having to go fish for it, something that can take weeks and still fail), BP should be tapping into the reservoir mid August provided all goes well. I'm taking their word on this since they have the parameters I'm missing. One thing you can bet on is that they will have their best drilling crews on these wells.