Newly discovered leak halts oil well test

Newly discovered leak halts oil well test

New Orleans, Louisiana (CNN) -- Equipment that the oil company BP was using to help stop the massive oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico is leaking -- another setback for the beleaguered company in its hope of stopping this disaster.

The company will need to fix the leak before it can run crucial tests that could show whether an end finally is in sight to the environmental disaster, the company said.

There was no timetable for when the leak was to be fixed, a company spokesman said early Thursday morning.

Earlier, BP was proceeding with the critical test of its crippled well in the Gulf of Mexico.

The U.S. government had told BP Tuesday to proceed with the "integrity" test on the well in the Gulf of Mexico, and BP had begun the process of shutting off valves on its new capping stack, to see whether the well can hold the pressure.

It's hoped the tests, whenever they begin, will show whether the well can be contained -- either by closing the 30-foot, 75-ton cap stack or siphoning off oil to the surface.

That could signal a beginning of an end to the catastrophe that began when the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and launching the relentless oil spill. But even if the well is contained, the cleanup could take years.

Retired Adm. Thad Allen, who is heading the government's response to the oil spill, announced Wednesday the test had been given a green light, after it was delayed for a day so that procedures could be scrutinized.

Source

You gotta be kidding me. There's no timetable for when the leak might be repaired. This is just ridiculous. If things keep coming up that continue to get in the way of getting this leak under control, I bet they will do what I keep hearing and reading, and nuke the well.



[edit on 15-7-2010 by Oozii]

We already know they don't really have any idea of what will work. This is all new ground, they are groping and have been from the beginning.

Thanks for the latest news.. if it isn't one thing it is another! S&F
.

reply to post by Oozii


Doesn't the fact that the 'new equipment' is leaking suggest that it is not able to cope with the pressures down there ??

Regards

PurpleDOG UK

reply to post by PurpleDog UK


It seems BP has underestimated how much pressure their new equipment can handle.. I think they only got up to around 3,000psi and then the leak.. their equipment needs to be able to handle at least 10,000psi or more.

The way I see it there are only a few possible solutions, given that they drilled a hole down the most obvious solution is to erase the hole so far it appears their methods of doing so have failed because there to much pressure coming up to fill it.

I can honestly only see way way of closing it and its in essence tackling it from the sides and pinching it shut and that brings us back to the nuke everyone seems against. Sad thing is this has a high chance of success and if it had been done on the first day this whole thing may have been a quite small incident.

I think the most surprising thing about this whole incident is nobody prepared for it, I know the depth makes it a very tricky prospect but If it wasn't for the depth I could think of a ton of solutions but for this one I think a nuke really is the best bet.

[edit on 15-7-2010 by Teknikal]

My Local Fox Channel just showed us that BP's Equipment was going to have to handle 9000PSI


LEVEL 9000!!!

So what the hell?!

And just by looking at how much force the "Oil" comes gushing out of the "leak" doesn't take a mind reader to know that "HEY That Pressure looks HIGH! Maybe we should put a HIGH pressure CAP ffs."

BP is deliberately putting mickey mouse caps so you can wake up in the morning feeling like P diddy and think all is well. and the media reports this but you yourself will never know becuase there's a freakin NO FLY zone and no ROW your boat zone to go see for yourself.

im getting tired of this BP Crap. no ..... I AM TIRED of this BP crap.

Originally posted by Teknikal
The way I see it there are only a few possible solutions, given that they drilled a hole down the most obvious solution is to erase the hole so far it appears their methods of doing so have failed because there to much pressure coming up to fill it.

I can honestly only see way way of closing it and its in essence tackling it from the sides and pinching it shut and that brings us back to the nuke everyone seems against. Sad thing is this has a high chance of success and if it had been done on the first day this whole thing may have been a quite small incident.

I think the most surprising thing about this whole incident is nobody prepared for it, I know the depth makes it a very tricky prospect but If it wasn't for the depth I could think of a ton of solutions but for this one I think a nuke really is the best bet.

[edit on 15-7-2010 by Teknikal]

I think the oil spill is a setup. Something even worse will happen at the oil spill, that will cause war.

Something is lurking, someone is planning, and we won't see it coming.

reply to post by Oozii


Yeah and "someone" needs to get off the computer and head to bed.

There's always someone doing something somewhere..


-_-

Originally posted by jonathan0220
reply to post by Oozii

 

Yeah and "someone" needs to get off the computer and head to bed.

There's always someone doing something somewhere..


-_-

Your first post was good and I starred you for it, but the post above is cheap. I agree with Oozil, I believe that this is going to escalte into something BIG. You see its a possiblity it could go something like this.

1. Exhaust all means of capping and publicise.
2. Create anger and support for Nuclear detonation
3. Detonate Nuke without publicity
4. Create tsunami/environmental disaster killing thousands
5. Chastise BP whilst underhand deals take place in amongst the smokescreen
6. Implement new carbon tax - new generation of power

I hope I am wrong, because detonating a nuclear bomb under our sea will only have catastrophic consequences not only for the aquatic life but for the people living on the coasts.

I don't see how detonating a small nuke will have any impact anywhere since we have invented them we have detonated well over 2000 of them quite a lot of them in oceans.

One needed for the gulf would have to be pretty small anyway to fit down a drilling hole and shouldn't effect anything but the sediment packed around it.
The depth and the fact it will be below the sea floor would probably prevent anyone on the surface from noticing a detonation occurred.

Here is a video I found randomly a few weeks back it's actually an artwork but it shows every nuclear detonation we have made and the sheer amount of them says it all really.

1945-1998: Nuclear Fireworks by Isao Hashimoto

[edit on 15-7-2010 by Teknikal]

sorry



[edit on 15-7-2010 by jazz10]

reply to post by Teknikal


Just watched the video you posted and I have a question...

Why was the UK testing weapons in the US? I can see Austrialia, it being part of the commonwealth, but this is the first I've heard/seen of tests on American soil.

It is probably a matter of either US expertise or the two countries cooperated on a design.

Seems odd though.

well i'm still aghast that this deep super-well drilling was allowed to begin in the first place, with no solution in place should a catastrophe like this occur. was something on this scale not forseen?
obviously not.
a suggestion: get the best brains in the world together in a room, and set them to work finding a solution to stop the leak. dont let them out till they come up with something.
if the best brains in the world cant solve it - we've had it.
dooby

Everyone is thinking this is complicated and they are not looking at the issue correctly.

It's a question of math really.

what you need to plug that hole is something that can push down with greater force then the oil is pushing up.

I can think of one other area of math that tackles that problem and that is rocket science.

I say we fire a missile into the hole!!

Korg.

Originally posted by [davinci]


Just watched the video you posted and I have a question...

Why was the UK testing weapons in the US? I can see Austrialia, it being part of the commonwealth, but this is the first I've heard/seen of tests on American soil.

It is probably a matter of either US expertise or the two countries cooperated on a design.

Seems odd though.

Your guess is as good as mine I never noticed that but there are lot of flashes, the video does give you the year and month of the detonations in the corner of the screen though so looking it up should be possible.

Might be trident based possibly or some other shared project.

[edit on 15-7-2010 by Teknikal]

As someone who has worked product devolopment for 25 years I'll tell ya everything doesn't go right the first time. A nuke will not work but but you can talk about it all you want there's too much pressure nearly 3000psi at 5000 feet.

Leaking BS
It was made to leaks if they tried to stop the flow completely from the well.

BP wants to pump as much oil into tankers as they can.

As long as the oil does not leak into the ocean they can now pump all they want and take there time with the relief wells.

Originally posted by jonathan0220
My Local Fox Channel just showed us that BP's Equipment was going to have to handle 9000PSI


LEVEL 9000!!!

So what the hell?!

And just by looking at how much force the "Oil" comes gushing out of the "leak" doesn't take a mind reader to know that "HEY That Pressure looks HIGH! Maybe we should put a HIGH pressure CAP ffs."

BP is deliberately putting mickey mouse caps so you can wake up in the morning feeling like P diddy and think all is well. and the media reports this but you yourself will never know becuase there's a freakin NO FLY zone and no ROW your boat zone to go see for yourself.

im getting tired of this BP Crap. no ..... I AM TIRED of this BP crap.

And I am getting tired of people thinking BP or 'teh gubment' are stalling when all available information implies this is a very, very complicated process that needs to procede wtih cation.

dig around the subforum. read the 'up to the minute' thread. there are very simple, logical reasons why they havnt shut the thing off yet.

Sorry, but I'm feeling flippant here.....

Lets solve the leak by sticking Obama and all the other worldwide governmental and corporate ars*holes down the well - there's enough of them to fill it, and they're all very dispensable! Call it the fat-cat formulae!