BP Delays Cap Tests as Oil Flows Freely

[CLANG]

Source: CBS/AP

The plan to start choking off oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico was suddenly halted as government officials and BP said further analysis must be done Wednesday before critical tests could proceed.

No explanation was given for the decision, and no date was set for when testing would begin on the new, tighter-fitting cap BP installed on the blown-out well Monday.

///SNIP///

An unstable area around the wellbore could create bigger problems if the leak continued elsewhere in the well after the cap valves were shut, experts said.

"It's an incredibly big concern," said Don Van Nieuwenhuise, director of Professional Geoscience Programs at the University of Houston. "They need to get a scan of where things are, that way when they do pressure testing, they know to look out for ruptures or changes."



Read more: http://www.wkrg.com/gulf_oil_spill/article/bp-delays-cap-tests-as-oil-flows-freely/905983/Jul-14-2010_8-22-am/

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Same thing will happen as the previous cap. Too much rupturing on the sea floor to fully close the vents.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

1. unstable area around the wellbore "an incredibly big concern"

Pretty scary stuff

[Robbien]

11. Back on May 31st, the WashPo reported that BP found the well was broken sub-surface

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/30/AR2010053002195_pf.html

Sources at two companies involved with the well said that BP also discovered new damage inside the well below the seafloor and that, as a result, some of the drilling mud that was successfully forced into the well was going off to the side into rock formations.

"We discovered things that were broken in the sub-surface," said a BP official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He said that mud was making it "out to the side, into the formation."

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Such reports have kept popping up in several articles since then. I really don't believe BP believes this cap would work, it just needed a few days of positive media to get its stock price back up a bit.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

13. like that reasoning...

i don't think they or our govt have much faith in this cap or in the relief wells...

[CountAllVotes]

2. they are unstable

too bad they don't know :wtf: they are doing isn't it? :mad:

FUCK YOU BRITISH PETROLEUM!!

:kick: & recommend.

[gristy]

3. Hook up the riser pipe and send all the damn oil topside

WTF is going on? A fifth grader recognizes that pressure tests are completely unnecessary for the system to successfully and safely deliver 100% of the oil to the containment vessels topside. When the oil flows freely up the riser pipe there is NO increase in pressure to the well. In fact, it is reduced.

[slackmaster]

4. I love the gusher of fools who think they know better than the professional petroleum engineers

:rofl:

[Ganja Ninja]

5. Yes if only those engineers were in charge instead of BP's bean counters. n/t

[Brother Buzz]

10. Word!

[Nuclear Unicorn]

14. Far be it for me to defend BP but what beans can be saved by

not testing the cap?

The consequence of the well bursting below the surface is horrific and even if BP was trying to salvage the oil to sell later it still wouldn't make sense to let the well flow freely now rather than cap it unless the cap could fail.

[AtheistCrusader]

6. The well casing is blown.

They know it. They won't say it.

I hope i'm wrong, but I think if they cap it, the well will fully rupture under the surface, and-or, the pipe is going to be blown up out of the sea floor.

[annabanana]

7. bingo... Whenever the information stops flowing, there is trouble

that they don't want to tell us.

[Baclava]

8. so while the engineers and geologists scream at each other, another 50,000 barrels a day escapes

I realize no plan is foolproof, but there is no excuse for dumping an extra 50,0000 barrels of oil a day into the gulf right now.
Put the damn containment rig back on while they bitch and argue over who's right about the test!

The clusterfuck continues.

[intheflow]

9. Ah yes. This is why I didn't do the Happy Dance when the cap was put on.

I knew they weren't telling the whole story.

[Gin]

12. they are doing seismic testing?????? does that word apply to

earthquake possibilities or other possible issues?

heard that mentioned on MSNBC this afternoon

[Baclava]

15. They are conducting seismic surveys around the well site looking for hazards, anomalies etc.

...like an underwater ultrasound of the sea floor, looking for seabed ruptures/collapses, gas pockets, that sort of stuff.

Not earthquake related.




Unless they found a giant undersea oil volcano gushing from 20 vents and they're not telling us....then all bets are off.

[AtheistCrusader]

16. Probably trying to see if the well bore is intact or not.

Pretty sure bet it isn't, but if they can find out where it's damaged, that can help indicate whether or not the relief wells will be effective.