Setback delays 'top kill' effort to seal leak

Here it is folks...

Setback delays 'top kill' effort to seal leak

Hold on to your hats....

~Namaste

They are going to try more mud next, and then the junk shot.

This seems more like a test than a true solution to me. I think they are seeing what options they have and playing mad scientists rather than fixing the problem.

~Namaste

I think they are merely buying pr time.

I pay close attention to the phraseology they have been using, particularly the phrase:

"Things are going as expected."

That would be perfectly true if they didn't expect it to work, as apparently it isn't.

Pay attention to how carefully they are framing expectations: mostly positive but with a huge out, so they can legitimately say "We never claimed it would work, only that it was the best shot we had."

reply to post by apacheman


I couldn't agree more... you should listen to the live interview they are doing right now. Lots of juicy details.

Live Feed

~Namaste

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought BP mentioned that the topkill has only a 60% to 70% chance of success! Remember BP is more than likely being criminally optimistic (lying) as they were about the amount of oil spilled.

And so 16 hours after they "stopped" the topkill operation they are informing the press...not a good sign.

We have a long long long way to go yet.

Watching the news here in Canada, the story so far is that the 'Top Kill' method looks like it is working causing a 6% increase in BP's stock price and a recomendation to to buy the stock due to it being undervalued.

There is no information about what is actually going on but there is no shortage of sunshine and rainbows. Given this report, I'm very suspicious about what if any progress is being made. Looks like a setup, an engineered, end of the week stock boost before a Saturday release of the truth

~~~

Watching CNN...

Wolf Blitzer: Why did they wait until after 5pm to tell us that they suspended this operation at midnight lastnight?


LOL, there's the proof for me, their trying a cash grab; they delibertely stalled until after the markets closed to announce that there was a delay...but don't worry, we'll restart the process before the markets open in the morning.

Unbelievable.

[edit on 27-5-2010 by [davinci]]

Seems to me that any mud they've managed to put down the pipe will be blown out within a few hours at most now. The vast majority of it has already been blown back out.

Damn.

Square one is looking worse all the time.


Was going to add a flame instead of , but then thought about the methane....

Chances are, due to their bad estimate on the flow from the well, they made another bad estimate on the amount of drilling mud required to kill the well.

They have to hit it all in one shot, not stopping until they have built up a tower of mud in the well bore, heavy enough to over come the pressure of the well. If they continue pumping when they know they will be short is just a waste, which is most likely why they stopped.

My best guess is they are going to go with the "junk shot" to try and plug the upper section of the BOP to cut down on the amount of mud that is being lost out the top of the well.

Doug Suttles of BP just apologized on CNN for not informing the public about the topkill stoppage!

I am beginning to believe this was to manipulate the stock price and would not be surprised to find out BP is short on their own stock!!

I hope the SEC is watching this closely!!

reply to post by [davinci]


Star for you my friend! I think you're spot on...

It's always about the money. In this case, BP is a backbone corporation for the UK and with the Euro teetering on the edge of the abyss, I think they are doing everything they can to inflate their stock prices artificially while the "money men" think of another scam to cover the bottom line and keep the Euro from crashing and starting the second half of the double-dip recession, leading to full blown world-wide depression.

This all stinks to holy hell. I feel like I'm watching someone (America) commit suicide by a thousand small cuts. I know most people feel helpless to do anything, but there has to be something we can do, and I mean DO NOW, that will light the fire under their ass. I knew that live video was suspicious as soon as I woke up this morning and last night, myself (and another poster) saw the video being looped, which was likely when they stopped pumping. And with out pumping more mud down there, everything they already pumped in will get blown back out by the gas and oil. Completely pointless!

Like I said before, seems like an experiment... test, observe, gather data, stop said test, gather more data, formulate hypothesis/theory, rinse and repeat. They're going to pump more mud tomorrow, even though it didn't work today? It infuriates me that they (BP and TPTB) really think we are THAT stupid.

Watch the stock market tomorrow, I bet it tanks on this news alone.

~Namaste

I was thinking they probably didn't have enough mud to keep going. The geysers are now brownish because of the mud but they look much more intense. Do they look more pressurized than ever to any of you? Are they going to turn black again during the suspension of the top kill?

How much does this mud cost and what is it made of? I know bentonite is an expensive mud and it's in this mix....I wish I could remember where I read about the composition of the mud. Anyone? I think they ran out, pure and simple.

Something just occurred to me....

OBAMA KNEW WHEN HE HAD HIS PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY!!!!!

And yet, he still pretended as though everything was going as planned...

ALSO....

The news this morning was that they were seeing success and results from the mud, BUT THEY SAID THAT AFTER THEY HAD ALREADY STOPPED PUMPING IT!

Now, if that isn't conspiracy, I don't know what is....

Something is definitely up here... why would the President put himself on the line like he did? It could only mean 1 of 2 things...

1) BP knew and didn't tell the Federal government, which would make the President look like a moron and a liar at the same time.

2) The President knew and INTENTIONALLY lied to the American people, in which case he should be impeached.

Either way, does it really matter? This has gotten so far out of control, I don't think anyone really knows what to do and is hoping for a miracle or luck at this point rather than a logical or rational solution.

~Namaste

The flow had to have been exponentially more than expected because during the tech briefing on May 24th, Kent Wells stated they would have so much redundancy in terms of the amount of mud on hand, it wouldnt be an issue.

Check out the briefing for yourself, talk about the mud starts around the 5 minute mark

May 24th Tech Briefing


If they had so much mud, yet are waiting on more, the outflow pressure mustve been huge.

Ok, This is from someone I know in Louisiana that works for the state.
There is anger behind closed doors that BP went to the press earlier today and stated that the top kill was working. They did actually stop the flow of oil for awhile but only while they were pumping the mud into the well. As soon as they stopped pumping, the pressure from the gas and oil pushed all the mud right back out of the hole. This is why you saw the brown crap spewing from the well all day on the live feed. The mud they pumped into the well in the past 2 days will be blown out of the well in no time and you start to see it turn black again. That may be why the live feed went down. they don't want people to see it turn to black oil coming out again.

It is despiration time now. They are really sweating this one out. The spill is even bigger than you can imagine. The only thing left that they have to try is the junk shot. They are going to shoot debris into the well hoping that it will clog it up so when they pump the mud in it doesn't escape. The idea is to pump the mud in so it pushes the oil back into the reservoir and then pump in cement to seal the well. If the junk shot fails they have nothing else. It will continue to leak until they can get the relief wells drilled which will take until August.

It has about a 50/50 chance to work. They will tell you a higher chance on TV but that is just to calm the public. God I hope this works..

The reason why they stopped is because they realized it was a futile effort. The mud was escaping from the well much faster than expected. They are preparing the junk shot now.

reply to post by Erasurehead


I can see the logic in the junk shot, but I can't see how it will work. A golf ball can't withstand the pressure that is coming from the well head, neither can tennis balls, pantyhose or any of the other trash they are talking about using. The pressure coming out of the well head is enough to cut steel or slice a human in half like butter. Stuffing a piece of hard rubber in there might work if you were trying to clog a pipe from your shower, but this? No way....

The pressure will crush that object and shove it right through the first hole it finds. If you've ever gotten a chunk of a milkshake stuck in the straw while you were drinking it, like when it's an oreo shake, you'd know that with enough pressure, that hard piece of cookie is going to deform or the straw is. We're not talking about too much of a difference with this.

Now, maybe if they do the junk AND the mud at the same time, that has a chance of working, but one or the other by itself is a joke.

Just my two cents....

~Namaste

reply to post by Erasurehead

The investment class probably needed time to adjust so yeah if they delay giving pertinent information to the general public someone else is making money off of that...Is the prime motivation the stock market always has been always will be even in the face of a national and more than likely international catastrophe? Yeah, I know that sounds naive.


I'm also thinking someone might argue that it is a matter of national security to suppress information or release it in a timed fashion as a matter of national security. I wish we could trust someone in the know.

Strikes me that pushing a lot of cut-up tires down and around bends in pipes will function a lot like a sandblaster fluid...think of all the little wires sticking out of the tread pieces. Sounds far more likely to me that the junk shot will either clog or break the delivery pipe quicker than it will clog the drill hole.

I'm starting to think they might need to try some type of powerful explosive, like the Russians suggested.

It would have to be set off deep in the ocean floor adjacent to the well and hopefully cause the ocean floor to collapse in on the well.

reply to post by SonOfTheLawOfOne


I agree. When they attempt the junk shot it will be mixed in with the mud. It will only work with the mud to push down the oil into the reservoir at the same time.