re: Oil Spill and Offshore Fishing (Latest Developments)

BP official: 'We've significantly cut the flow' of oil from damaged rig
By George Talbot
May 03, 2010, 11:42AM
A BP official said Monday, May 3, 2005, that the company has managed to significantly reduce the amount of oil gushing from the Deepwater Horizon site.MOBILE, Ala. -- BP has significantly cut the flow of oil leaking from its damaged Deepwater Horizon rig on the Gulf of Mexico sea floor, a company spokesman said this morning.

Jeff Childs, a deputy incident commander for BP, said in a briefing with Alabama officials that the company successfully shut a set of hydraulic shears known as annular rams, helping to clamp the ruptured pipe and block the leaking oil.

"We've significantly cut the flow through the pipe," Childs said at the Mobile briefing hosted by U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa.

Childs said the company was still trying to activate a set of shear rams that are designed to seal the well by shearing off the drill pipe. The job is complicated, he said, because it is occurring at depths of more than 5,000 feet.

Shelby said the development was good news for the Gulf Coast.

"If we can stop that oil from pumping, or even slow it down, that's a big step," Shelby said.

Childs' statement came after BP chief executive Tony Hayward said earlier this morning that chemical dispersants being injected into the oil flow near the spill source have worked to some degree to keep oil from flowing to the surface, though he did not elaborate.


See continuing coverage of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill of 2010 on al.com and GulfLive.com.

To keep track of the Gulf of Mexico oil slick, visit www.skytruth.org or follow its Twitter feed.

To see updated projection maps related to the oil spill in the Gulf, visit the Deepwater Horizon Response Web site established by government officials.

How to help: Volunteers eager to help cope with the spill and lessen its impact on the Gulf Coast environment and economy.

HOW YOU CAN HELP will appear daily in the Press-Register until there is no longer a need for volunteers in response to the oil spill disaster. If you have suggestions for a story, or if you belong to an organization in need of such help, please call Press-Register Editor Mike Marshall at 251-219-5675 or email him at mmarshall@press-register.com.


Officials also said as BP is preparing a system never tried nearly a mile under water to siphon away the geyser of crude from a blown-out well a mile under Gulf of Mexico waters.
BP officials said they hope the system could collect as much as 85 percent of oil rising from the seafloor.

The plan to lower 74-ton, concrete-and-metal boxes being built to capture the oil and siphon it to a barge waiting at the surface will need at least another six to eight days to get it in place, with weather also a factor

quote:

---

Why is the only available containment dome in Italy, when the use of a containment dome is the plan B for a BOP failure.

Not to armchair quarterback, but it seems like these companies did as little as possible to prepare for the worst case scenario.
Putting all their faith into a single system that has to be manually activated seems foolish in hindsight.

---

this has been my issue all along.

With as many offshore oil rigs operating around the world, how in god's name do they not have preventative measures for something like this?

yep, i said this 4 days ago and got nailed for it.

quote:

---

yep, i said this 4 days ago and got nailed for it.

---

I think what you were saying that got so bashed 4 days ago is that every company should plan and equip themselves for every potential bad turn that may arise. What you were saying wasn't feasible.

I can't name any other instance in the 10 years that I've been in the oilfield where this type of equipment was ever used. What's the success/failure rate? How difficult is it going to be to lower a 120 ton piece of equipment down almost a mile and land it with accuracy to contain the spill, or at least the majority of it?

I understand the frustration in it taking so long to get to this phase, but we really don't have all the info on what they've tried. Maybe there was a plan for one of these, but it wasn't big enough. Maybe they didn't think it was feasible being that far down, and went with a better plan at the time.

It's hard to tell what they've considered and what they haven't. What parts were readily available and what they've had to wait on to be manufactured.

quote:

---

I will be anxious to see how they deal with the current down that far and what success they have with the accuracy of putting this thing down there as well

---

From what I am hearing, the subsea currents at these depths should not be a big issue. The larger issue is simply being able to thread the needle and land on top of the stack from almost a mile above the sea floor.

I would also think that lowering something of this size and weight could have catastrophic effects if it miss hits the stack, potentially spilling even more oil from the bottom.

Not to make light of the situation but I bet there is some high sphinter-retension factor amongst the engineers of this dome. There seems to be an almost unlimited list of things that could go wrong, with a pretty small window for it to go right.

I am guessing in the engineering world under normal circumstances this would be at least a one year project.

quote:

---

From what I am hearing, the subsea currents at these depths should not be a big issue. The larger issue is simply being able to thread the needle and land on top of the stack from almost a mile above the sea floor.

---

the rov will position it over the stack just like it positions the stack on the wellhead. No big deal.

quote:

---

I would also think that lowering something of this size and weight could have catastrophic effects if it miss hits the stack, potentially spilling even more oil from the bottom.

---

it's done very gently. the rov has camera's for the operator to see. and, they have great communication with one another.

quote:

---

From the poli board ... someone posted a FOX news article about this and raised the question of the currents that far down ... and the pressure. How thick is the metal/steel and can it withstand the pressure 5000 feet down?

---

You are only looking at about 2,400 Psi of pressure acting on the outside of this cofferdam. The cofferdam can withstand this easily. Trust me these guys are not idiots and would not build something like this and not think of the pressures that the water will put on it at that depth.

Report of reduced oil leak unfounded

Update: BP refutes executive who said company 'cut the flow' of oil from damaged rig
By George Talbot
May 03, 2010, 11:42AM


MOBILE, Ala. -- BP Tuesday refuted an executive who said Monday morning the company has significantly cut the flow of oil leaking from its damaged Deepwater Horizon rig on the Gulf of Mexico sea floor.

Jeff Childs, a deputy incident commander for BP, said in a briefing with Alabama officials that the company successfully shut a set of hydraulic shears known as annular rams, helping to clamp the ruptured pipe and block the leaking oil.

"We've significantly cut the flow through the pipe," Childs said at the Mobile briefing hosted by U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa.

Shelby said the development was good news for the Gulf Coast.

"If we can stop that oil from pumping, or even slow it down, that's a big step," Shelby said.

By Monday afternoon, however, BP had released a statement saying the oil flow remained unchanged.

"BP would like to clarify that, contrary to some media reports, the actions it has taken to date on the blow out preventer have not resulted in any observed reduction in the rate of flow of oil from the MC252 well," the statement said.

Childs said the company was still trying to activate a set of shear rams that are designed to seal the well by shearing off the drill pipe. The job is complicated, he said, because it is occurring at depths of more than 5,000 feet.
Childs' statement came after BP chief executive Tony Hayward said earlier this morning that chemical dispersants being injected into the oil flow near the spill source have worked to some degree to keep oil from flowing to the surface, though he did not elaborate.

Officials also said as BP is preparing a system never tried nearly a mile under water to siphon away the geyser of crude from a blown-out well a mile under Gulf of Mexico waters.

BP officials said they hope the system could collect as much as 85 percent of oil rising from the seafloor.

The plan to lower 74-ton, concrete-and-metal boxes being built to capture the oil and siphon it to a barge waiting at the surface will need at least another six to eight days to get it in place, with weather also a factor.

quote:

---

Jeff Childs, a deputy incident commander for BP

---

If the Deputy Incident Commander doesn't know WTF is going on, who does?

Quick question. Does anyone know who the cement company was on the Horizon?