Photos Of Gulf Oil Rig Burning.

[Blueice Mark II]

Excellent photo shooting! I have never seen anything like this. Was that you, TomD?

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/04/deepwater-horizon/

[Curtman]

So is it a false flag? It seems like they are going to spin this to look like the act of terrorboogies.

[dumbnbroke]

I have not read much about the platform, just the news about the incident, but where is the oil pumped to? Is there always an oil tanker next to the platform and the crude gets pumped into the tanker?

[madhu]

Why do u think they are showing this spill and make it seem bigger and national disaster? oil is going to go back to more than 150$ a barrel and they will have a cause to explain away. but the guys here know the real reason why oil is so expensive! the dollar is probably being devalued. Also helicopter ben reiterated that he is going to keep rates low for the foreseeable future. here we go 10-20% inflation till the masses wake up.

[Shortstack]

Why do u think they are showing this spill and make it seem bigger and national disaster? oil is going to go back to more than 150$ a barrel and they will have a cause to explain away. but the guys here know the real reason why oil is so expensive! the dollar is probably being devalued. Also helicopter ben reiterated that he is going to keep rates low for the foreseeable future. here we go 10-20% inflation till the masses wake up.

hey there. Don't know if you know me. Look, when you pose questions like " why do you think", my expectation is that you think. No, let me just cut to the chase here. Any "beachfront" property on the entire gulf coast is now in grave danger. The rate at which this deep water rig is puking out oil went from what, 1k barrols an hour to 5k an hour? There are now towns that are ( or will be soon) national disasters? From what I hear, some pretty swanky areas (for that area or the county anyways) that have been declared national emergency's. Wha will happen. I see the future, And it ain't pretty. The oil is leaking from the ocean floor, 5,000 feet down. Hey, let's get "todd" in a wet suit and weld those pipes closed. I am sure Sara Palin will volunteer Todd to make the drive and save the day

There is no solution here. This well will puke up that oil for months before it can be shut down. The damages to New Orleans, and the entire panhandle will be devastating and perminent. And you can't simply take the top three feet of beach sand, run it threw a machine, and put it back in place. The oil that sinks to the ocean floor 3 miles offshore will eventually wash back on shore.

Drill baby drill. **** you Sara, and everyone who supports you.

[Blueice Mark II]

Where do you get your absurd numbers?

You could always contact your wonderful AG Blumenthal and file a complaint...

I see that you removed your figures stating that this well was losing 5,000 barrels per hour, SS....

[mayhem]

Leaked Report: Government Fears Oil Well Could Become Unchecked Gusher (http://blog.al.com/live/2010/04/deepwater_horizon_secret_memo.html)

http://media.al.com/live/photo/plumejpg-5e73159717b16990_medium.jpg
This image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard Saturday April 24, 2010, shows oil
leaking from the drill pipe of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig after it sank. A
confidential government report on the unfolding spill disaster makes clear the Coast
Guard now fears the well could be on the verge of becoming an unchecked gusher
shooting millions of gallons of oil per day into the Gulf.

'The following is not public' document states

A confidential government report on the unfolding spill disaster in the Gulf makes clear the Coast Guard now fears the well could become an unchecked gusher shooting millions of gallons of oil per day into the Gulf.

"The following is not public," reads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Emergency Ops document dated April 28. "Two additional release points were found today. If the riser pipe deteriorates further, the flow could become unchecked resulting in a release volume an order of magnitude higher than previously thought."

In scientific circles, an order of magnitude means something is 10 times larger. In this case, an order of magnitude higher would mean the volume of oil coming from the well could be 10 times higher than the 5,000 barrels a day coming out now. That would mean 50,000 barrels a day, or 2.1 million gallons a day. It appears the new leaks mentioned in the Wednesday release are the leaks reported to the public late Wednesday night.

"There is no official change in the volume released but the Coast Guard is preparing for a worst-case release," continues the document.

The emergency document also states that the spill has grown in size so quickly that only 1 to 2 percent of it has been sprayed with dispersants.

The Press-Register obtained the emergency report from a government official. The White House, NOAA, the Coast Guard and BP Plc did not immediately return calls for comment made early this morning.

The worst-case scenario for the broken andduhing well pouring oil into the Gulf of Mexico would be the loss of the wellhead and kinked piping currently restricting the flow to 5,000 barrels -- or 210,000 gallons -- per day.

If the wellhead is lost, oil could leave the well at a much greater rate.

"Typically, a very good well in the Gulf can produce 30,000 barrels a day, but that's under control. I have no idea what an uncontrolled release could be," said Stephen Sears, chairman of the petroleum engineering department at Louisiana State University.

On Thursday, federal officials said they were preparing for the worst-case scenario but didn't elaborate.

Kinks in the piping created as the rig sank to the seafloor may be all that is preventing the Deepwater Horizon well from releasing its maximum flow. BP is now drilling a relief well as the ultimate fix. The company said Thursday that process would take up to 3 months.

"I'm not sure what's happening down there right now. I have heard there is a kink in what's called the riser. The riser is a long pipe that connects the wellhead to the rig. I really don't know if that kink is a big restriction. Is that really a big restriction? There could be another restriction further down," said LSU's Sears. "An analogy would be if you have a kink in a garden hose. You suspect that kink is restricting the flow, but there could be another restriction or kink somewhere else closer to the faucet.

BP Plc executive Doug Suttles said Thursday the company was worried about "erosion" of the pipe at the wellhead.

Sand is an integral part of the formations that hold oil under the Gulf. That sand, carried in the oil as it shoots through the piping, is blamed for the ongoing erosion described by BP.

"The pipe could disintegrate. You've got sand getting into the pipe, it's eroding the pipe all the time, like a sandblaster," said Ron Gouget, a former oil spill response coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"When the oil is removed normally, it comes out at a controlled rate. You can still have abrasive particles in that. Well, now, at this well, its coming out at fairly high velocity," Gouget continued. "Any erosive grains are abrading the inside of the pipe and all the steel that comes in contact with the liquid. It's essentially sanding away the pipe."

The formation that was being drilled by the Deepwater Horizon when it exploded and sank last week is reported to have tens of millions of barrels of oil. A barrel contains 42 gallons.

"The loss of a wellhead, this is totally unprecedented," said Gouget. "How bad it could get from that, you will have a tremendous volume of oil that is going to be offgassing on the coast. Depending on how much wind is there, and how those gases build up, that's a significant health concern."

"Typically, a very good well in the Gulf can produce 30,000 barrels a day, but that's under control. I have no idea what an uncontrolled release could be," said Stephen Sears, chairman of the petroleum engineering department at Louisiana State University.

On Thursday, federal officials said they were preparing for the worst-case scenario but didn't elaborate.

Kinks in the piping created as the rig sank to the seafloor may be all that is preventing the Deepwater Horizon well from releasing its maximum flow. BP is now drilling a relief well as the ultimate fix. The company said Thursday that process would take up to 3 months.

"I'm not sure what's happening down there right now. I have heard there is a kink in what's called the riser. The riser is a long pipe that connects the wellhead to the rig. I really don't know if that kink is a big restriction. Is that really a big restriction? There could be another restriction further down," said LSU's Sears. "An analogy would be if you have a kink in a garden hose. You suspect that kink is restricting the flow, but there could be another restriction or kink somewhere else closer to the faucet.

BP Plc executive Doug Suttles said Thursday the company was worried about "erosion" of the pipe at the wellhead.

Sand is an integral part of the formations that hold oil under the Gulf. That sand, carried in the oil as it shoots through the piping, is blamed for the ongoing erosion described by BP.

"The pipe could disintegrate. You've got sand getting into the pipe, it's eroding the pipe all the time, like a sandblaster," said Ron Gouget, a former oil spill response coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"When the oil is removed normally, it comes out at a controlled rate. You can still have abrasive particles in that. Well, now, at this well, its coming out at fairly high velocity," Gouget continued. "Any erosive grains are abrading the inside of the pipe and all the steel that comes in contact with the liquid. It's essentially sanding away the pipe."

The formation that was being drilled by the Deepwater Horizon when it exploded and sank last week is reported to have tens of millions of barrels of oil. A barrel contains 42 gallons.

"The loss of a wellhead, this is totally unprecedented," said Gouget. "How bad it could get from that, you will have a tremendous volume of oil that is going to be offgassing on the coast. Depending on how much wind is there, and how those gases build up, that's a significant health concern."

(Updated 5:04 p.m. to add additional information from federal documents.)


If they lose their wellhead, this is what happens.

http://video.godlikeproductions.com/video/Actinia_Oil_Rig_Blowout

[mayhem]

Gee lookie here!!!!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/04/30/financial/f131648D74.DTL#ixzz0md6w6QKO

Although no cause has been determined, oil services contractor Halliburton Inc. says it finished a cementing operation 20 hours before a Gulf of Mexico rig went up in flames.

Halliburton is named as a defendant in most of the more than two dozen lawsuits filed by Gulf Coast people and businesses claiming the oil spill could ruin them financially. In one lawsuit, two Louisiana shrimpers claim cementing contributed to the explosion.

Halliburton said Friday it had four workers stationed on the rig, performing several tasks, including cementing — a process of applying cement and water to a pipe used to prevent the wall of the hole from caving in during drilling.

According to a 2007 study by Minerals Management Service, cementing was a factor 18 of 39 rig blowouts in the gulf between 1992 and 2006.

[Shinylid]

Here's an idea: Let's blow this rig up. It will serve two purposes; one will be that we waste all that oil, and the other is the people will decry the off-shore rigs as being bad for the world by means of pollution. After all is said and done, the urge to drill for oil in the oceans will have its legs chopped out from under itself.

This will strengthen the US agenda of being last to hold the most oil. Check mate!

[Shortstack]

Here's an idea: Let's blow this rig up. It will serve two purposes; one will be that we waste all that oil, and the other is the people will decry the off-shore rigs as being bad for the world by means of pollution. After all is said and done, the urge to drill for oil in the oceans will have its legs chopped out from under itself.

This will strengthen the US agenda of being last to hold the most oil. Check mate!

that may well be an idea in tennessee, but it would be a joke anywhere else. Waste all that oil you say? You implying that most of the oil will not be puked into the gulf over the next three or four months? And I think this pretty much proves that deep water drilling is bull****.

The entire gulf coast may be toast after this is all over. I guess gulf coast shrimp and seafood were overrated anyways. This could end so badly that it may be the black swan event that cripples the US economy. That pipe beaks loose 5,000 feet down and we are looking at a 50,000 barrel spill per day, times 90 days equals 4.5 million barrels in the gulf. You can kiss every beach on the gulf coast goodbye. This could give new meaning to the word ugly. God damn it.

[Shinylid]

that may well be an idea in tennessee, but it would be a joke anywhere else. Waste all that oil you say? You implying that most of the oil will not be puked into the gulf over the next three or four months? And I think this pretty much proves that deep water drilling is bull****.

The entire gulf coast may be toast after this is all over. I guess gulf coast shrimp and seafood were overrated anyways. This could end so badly that it may be the black swan event that cripples the US economy. That pipe beaks loose 5,000 feet down and we are looking at a 50,000 barrel spill per day, times 90 days equals 4.5 million barrels in the gulf. You can kiss every beach on the gulf coast goodbye. This could give new meaning to the word ugly. God damn it.

I think you missed the point- the crooks in DC don't give a rats ass about the gulf, the ocean, or anything other than profits and power. If ocean drilling becomes frowned upon then they hold the leverage again. Alaska is the end-game to the madness....then maybe the oceans when Alaska runs out.

Being from FL myself and spending many years of my childhood fishing and crabbing the gulf with my grandfather I am just as pissed about this as anyone. I agree that the ocean drilling is ****...at list in the current ways.

Haliberton's doings or not- the process is not safe. This happened because someone wanted it to, or because profit was more important than shutting down and fixing the problems.

This could have been prevented.

[Wyldwil]

Pretty amazing how that STEEL structure burned FOR DAYS and apparently didn't melt like the weakened girders of the WTC that burned for minutes.