by eXpat » Tue 25 May 2010, 13:44:28
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cog', 'W')hy does nuking the well even approach a rational approach to shutting down this oil leak?
Its not going to happen. Its pure tinfoil to even suggest it will. The relief wells will stop the flow 2 months hence and its a tried method that works.
As much as I would like it to be true, remember that not method is 100% guaranteed
BP Relief Wells Bring Risk of Bigger Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')May 11 (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc faces the risk of an even bigger oil spill as it attempts to drill two so-called relief wells to plug a leak on the seabed of the Gulf of Mexico that’s gushing 5,000 barrels a day into the ocean.
The relief wells will pump cement into the leak to seal it. To do that, BP will need to first drill into the same deposit of oil and gas that caused a pressure surge known as a blowout at the original well, igniting an explosion that killed 11 workers and sank a $365 million drilling rig.
In a regulatory filing BP made to drill the relief wells it estimates another blowout could release as much as 240,000 barrels of oil a day into the ocean. That’s almost 50 percent more than the company’s worst-case estimate for the first well and equivalent to two-thirds of supply pumped daily from Prudhoe Bay, the largest U.S. oil field.
When detailing the risks in the filing, BP may have factored in the volatile conditions found when drilling the original well that blew up on April 20, said Fred Aminzadeh, a research professor at the University of Southern California.