2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill

[rhall]

Too bad there hasn't been as many restrictions as expected. Still allowing off-shore drilling to continue on.

Despite Obama’s moratorium, offshore oil drilling projects move ahead

Rob

 

[Palpatine]

Too bad there hasn't been as many restrictions as expected. Still allowing off-shore drilling to continue on.

I am very much in favor of a transition away from oil into more renewable forms of energy.

Perhaps the forced reduction in oil supply (more restrictions offshore) is a good long term result. Raise the price of oil so that other forms of energy are more competitive on price.

If we have $100 oil instead of $70 oil, that creates new opportunities for electric vehicles to be competitive.

In the USA we have become used to $3 per gallon gasoline. Perhaps we need gasoline above $4 or $5 per gallon to get people to wake up.

 

[TEG]

Two good reasons to drive an electric car

 

[TEG]

[MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bj_kco8qTQ[/MEDIA]

 

[rhall]

Completely agree with you James and all for the same. For most Americans it always takes a major hit in the pocket book before they'll change. My point was that even though we are hoping for significantly more restrictions to offshore drilling and there was a lot of talk regarding it, the reality is that it might not change a whole lot from before. Oil just has too much influence in the two parties right now.

 

[AnOutsider]

I think I would pick a different word than amazing, but OK...

Maybe bewildering? Disconcerting? Upsetting? Flabbergasting? Frightening? Shocking? Disgusting?

Well yeah, splitting hairs over fairly synonymous words is going to fix things!

Completely agree with you James and all for the same. For most Americans it always takes a major hit in the pocket book before they'll change. My point was that even though we are hoping for significantly more restrictions to offshore drilling and there was a lot of talk regarding it, the reality is that it might not change a whole lot from before. Oil just has too much influence in the two parties right now.

Not to mention that while the economy has bounced back somewhat, most people just aren't in the financial position to put the "big picture" in front of their personal welfare.

 

[TEG]

BP buys "oil spill" ad words

 

[TEG]

 

[TEG]

Scientist says BP well could be leaking 100,000 barrels of oil a day 100,000 barrels = 4,200,000 gallons...

BP well may be spewing

Determining the real oil flow could cost BP billions

 

[Palpatine]

Scientist says BP well could be leaking 100,000 barrels of oil a day 100,000 barrels = 42,000,000 gallons...

That would make it likely the most productive oil well in one of the biggest oil fields EVER.

Even the best oil wells in Saudia Arabia and Texas, in the early part of the 19th century, only produced 25,000 bpd when they first started. An oil well producing 25,000 bpd ranks in probably the top 1% of oil wells.

A new well producing 5,000 to 10,000 bpd is a great success. On land it is very common for new oil wells to be successful at 1,000 bpd. They need bigger numbers offshore to make it worthwhile.

The odds are that this one is around 25,000 bpd and that indicates that BP has a really good license in that area of the Gulf of Mexico if they can ever get permission to drill again.

The Thunderhorse field in an another area of the Gulf of Mexico is producing 250,000 bpd from a series of wells drilled into that license.

If this single well is producing over 25,000 bpd, that that would indicate that this new field is a giant oil field.

 

[Palpatine]

I did more research. This oil well is at the Macondo Prospect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macondo_Prospect

It was only expected to have about 50 million barrels of oil reserves that could be recovered.

If this oil well is producing 100,000 bpd, then that estimate of 50 million barrels is WAY too low. Even if it is 25,000 bpd the estimate is too low.

 

[dpeilow]

The CEO of BP was on BBC last Sunday and said the field was huge. He quickly clammed up - so who knows...

 

[TEG]

Scientists challenge BP containment claims


BP buys first place in Google results

 

[TEG]

Old story:
What if BP taps leaking Macondo well again?

...proven oil reserves in the Gulf of Mexico were about 6 billion barrels or less than a year’s supply at current usage rates...

All this mess is but a tiny fraction of what we use.

 

[Palpatine]

...proven oil reserves in the Gulf of Mexico were about 6 billion barrels

Proven reserves are much different than what will ultimately come out of the region. Proven reserves are based on what can be produced at the current price of oil. At $100 per barrel, there are a lot of oil fields that become "proven" that are not viable at $70. At $150 per barrel there are even more oil fields that make sense.

The Macondo Prospect is a modest size oil field, but it made sense economically for BP to drill because it is near other undersea pipelines that are already in place. So the cost of Macondo was very reasonable. That size oil field would not make sense if it were in the middle of nowhere and all new pipelines were needed.

I have seen estimates that the Gulf of Mexico likely has 50 billion barrels of "technically" recoverable oil. That means regardless of price, we have the technical know how to extract it. But that is not reasonable at $70 per barrel.

In a Peak Oil world of energy shortages, then much of that oil will eventually be produced.

 

[TEG]

And perhaps the deeper they go the harder it will be to fix leaks, and possibly there will be higher pressures encountered?

 

[Palpatine]

And perhaps the deeper they go the harder it will be to fix leaks, and possibly there will be higher pressures encountered?

I think that after this disaster, the deep water drilling industry is going to have to figure out a new level of redundancy to avoid this type of issue ever happening again.

 

[TEG]

http://www.truthout.org/dispersant-disaster-a-closer-look-bps-toxic-solution60225Dispersant Disaster: A Closer Look at BP's Toxic Solution

BP's Dispersant Could Cause Toxic Rain All Over East Coast

BP Refuses to Stop Spraying Toxic Dispersant; Misses Deadline to Stem Flow … Again

BP's Dispersant Disaster: Sweeping The Oil Under The Rug Has Vast Environmental Costs

...As the quantity of dispersant that BP has sprayed on the spill surpassed 800,000 gallons...

 

[TEG]

Team: Much More Oil Gushing From Well Than Thought

...Most of Thursday's estimates had more oil flowing in an hour than what officials once said was spilling in an entire day...

...The new figures mean Deepwater Horizon is producing an Exxon Valdez size spill every five to 13 days...

BP oil leak is gushing

 

[TEG]

[MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh_wNVUx9SI[/MEDIA]