AP IMPACT: 3,200 Gulf wells unplugged, unprotected

More than 3,200 oil and gas wells classified as active lie abandoned beneath the Gulf of Mexico, with no cement plugging to help prevent leaks that could threaten the same waters fouled by last year's BP spill, The Associated Press has learned. These wells likely pose an even greater environmental threat than the 27,000 wells in the Gulf that have been plugged and classified officially as "permanently abandoned" or "temporarily abandoned." Those sealed wells were first tallied and reported as a major leaking threat in an investigative report by the AP in July. The unplugged wells haven't been used for at least five years, and there are no plans to restore production on them, according to the federal government. Operators have not been required to plug the wells because their leases have not expired.

This is so unbelievable,yet i believe it..

I cannot understand why theses wells are not plugged or even capped when they are done being drilled..

Then we have this...

As a result, there is little to prevent powerful leaks from pushing to the surface. Even depleted wells can repressurize from work on nearby wells or shifts in oil or gas layers beneath the surface, petroleum engineers say. But no one is watching to make sure that doesn't happen.

source

read the article people, this is some scary news..

Five flags and not one reply..

That makes me sad....

Originally posted by baddmove
Five flags and not one reply..

That makes me sad....

I don't think anyone has an answer to this.

Just a literal no comment. :O

reply to post by prolific


you could be right..

I was hoping more ATS'rs would be interested in this story..

seems like critical news to me...

Originally posted by baddmove
reply to post by prolific

 

you could be right..

I was hoping more ATS'rs would be interested in this story..

seems like critical news to me...

edit on 20-4-2011 by baddmove because: (no reason given)

:Lately ATS doesn't give a crap about anything other than fantasy BS that makes the entire community look like complete a-holes.

Way to go ATS!

I feel you, my friend.
Thanks for the post..

Sadly, I also believe it......
Not at all surprised.

But if the majority of ATS'rs lately is any indication of how the majority of the world is...
We are F'd.

Blessings my friend..
We need them.

reply to post by Ahmose


Thank you...

think about it..

3,200 well still out there that are still, to this day..

uncapped and spewing oil and other crap into the gulf..

no one on here cares lately..

Originally posted by baddmove
reply to post by Ahmose

 

Thank you...

think about it..

3,200 well still out there that are still, to this day..

uncapped and spewing oil and other crap into the gulf..

no one on here cares lately..

Of course they dont care..
It doesn't affect them and their little boxes directly.. So "why should they give a shat?"

Pretty f'd up "logic" I agree..
But all too common.

I usually tend to stay optimistic about things..
But it is becoming more and more difficult to do so.

Troubling... to put it lightly.

I care! I just don't have words to reply to this. I put up a thread a while back about all the new deep drilling contracts that have been put through since the BP spill. Same problem, no replies. I think most of us don't know what to do with this info. Who do we complain to?

reply to post by Ahmose


It get's worse too...

The oil and gas industry generally views plugging on unexpired leases as an inconvenience and prefers the freedom to resume operations at any time on such wells. When BP's Deepwater Horizon well blew in the Gulf last April 20, it was being temporarily abandoned to await later production. A poor cement plugging job has been identified as a chief cause of the deadly explosion and spill. Engineers say the metal and cement lining inside abandoned wells, as well as the plugs, can break down over time and allow leaking. Petroleum or corrosive brine, which is even saltier than sea water, can leak from under the sea floor, harming aquatic life.

I just can't believe how this is so out of control..

pisses me off to no end..

damn..I love my planet...this really hurts...

Many of these well could be producers but the oil companies are hiding the fact that they are good wells.

WHY.
If oil prices are low (even the oil price now to the oil companies are low.)the oil companies want to hide the fact that they have a lot more oil then they can sell.

Only shortages raise oil prices.
Not pumping oil leads to shortages then the oil companies can start pumping just enough to supply demand but not enough to lower prices.

The oil companies keep a lot of secrets.

I would also be very worried about the fact that an oil rig in the gulf of the coast of mexico i think,,just apparently decided to fall over,,,for no apparent reason ? All personel were evacuated but since when do oil rig platforms just fall over????

reply to post by BobAthome


wow..do you have a link to that story?

I would like to read up on that one also..

reply to post by baddmove


gulf of mexico oil rig pemex

Sorry after doing a search with the above i should have realized search engines sure ain't what they used to be so here is more info,

A total of 713 oil platform workers were evacuated on Tuesday when a semi-submersible residence began to collapse into the Gulf of Mexico, said state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex). No oil was leaked in the incident and no injuries reported at the Flotel Jupiter platform which housed workers about 80 kilometers off the coast of Campeche state in the Gulf of Mexico. Initially 638 workers were evacuated earlier on Tuesday after water entered part of the facility and it began to lean to one side, but Pemex said by the afternoon all 713 workers on board the platform had been evacuated. After several attempts to rescue the facility, the platform late Ton uesday "turned over and partially sank," said Pemex.

reply to post by BobAthome


getting up to 4$ a gallon here soon..

maybe they should start tapping those wells again...