Monthly Archives: August 2010

Worst Case Scenario of the Gulf Oil Leak

Posted on August 30, 2010 by zerbe

Referencing many posts from The Oil Drum, a blog often frequented by petroleum engineers and other oil-industry specialists, David Phillips lays out a worst case scenario for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Well. Hopefully this has been proven false by the … Continue reading →

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Great Article on the Deepwater Horizon’s Last Day

Posted on August 26, 2010 by zerbe

The Wall Street Journal compiled a great article on the doomed rig’s last day and the divisive change of plans to use less drilling mud. Definitely worth the read. Read the full article here According to the investigation by the … Continue reading →

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Raising the Blowout Preventer for Evidence

Posted on August 20, 2010 by zerbe

The raising of the BOP from the Macondo Well is not just a safety precaution. The BOP is also evidence that may reveal how the Gulf oil spill happened. The 450 ton BOP resting a mile below the surface of … Continue reading →

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Final Plugging of Macondo Well Scheduled for September

Posted on August 20, 2010 by zerbe

The U.S. government said the final plugging of BP’s blown-out Gulf well will begin sometime after Labor Day. Before then, engineers are planning a risky maneuver to replace the blowout prevent. The failed blowout preventer, a prime source of interest … Continue reading →

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BP’s Gulf Well May Not Be Permanently Killed Until September

Posted on August 16, 2010 by zerbe

There’s a new Bloomberg article out there that reports that a team of federal scientists and BP engineers is looking at either attaching a pressure-control system to the top of the well or installing a new blowout preventer, an emergency … Continue reading →

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New Systems to Cap Deepwater Wells in a Hurry

Posted on August 13, 2010 by zerbe

The Economist has a great article on the The Price of Staying in the Game for oil companies and their collective $1 billion effort to figure out what to do should a deepwater spill happen again. The companies involved outlined … Continue reading →

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BP Must Finish Gulf of Mexico Relief Wells

Posted on August 13, 2010 by zerbe

National Incident Commander Thad Allen said a pressure test conducted yesterday failed to prove there is no further risk of oil leaking from the well. As a result, BP Plc has been ordered by U.S. officials to finish the relief … Continue reading →

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To Proceed with the Relief Well?

Posted on August 13, 2010 by zerbe

National Incident Commander Thad Allen said today scientists are reviewing how to proceed after determining about 1,000 barrels of oil is trapped in the Macondo well by a cement plug poured from the top last week. Injecting mud and cement … Continue reading →

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OIL LEAK STOPPED THROUGH STATIC KILL PROCEDURE

Posted on August 13, 2010 by zerbe

BP successfully stopped the flow of oil from the leaking Macondo Well on July 15 after the well gushed an estimated 4.9 million barrels, making it the world’s largest offshore accidental oil spill (Bloomberg). Last week, BP pumped cement into … Continue reading →

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Oil Conversion

Posted on August 8, 2010 by zerbe

Here are some handy oil conversion numbers: one tonne of crude oil approximately 7.3 barrels of crude oil about 307 U.S. gallons of crude oil one barrel of crude oil 42 U.S. gallons of crude oil 159 liters of crude … Continue reading →

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Oil Pollution Act

Posted on August 8, 2010 by zerbe

The Oil Pollution Act “limits the liability of responsible parties for offshore facilities, such as the Deepwater Horizon facility, to all removal costs (i.e., direct cleanup cost) plus $75 million and other language places a limit of $3,200 per gross … Continue reading →

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BP Starts Cement Plugging of Gulf Well

Posted on August 5, 2010 by zerbe

In what is being described as a ‘milestone’ for the Macondo Well in the Gulf of Mexico, BP began pouring cement into the well. Earlier this week, BP pumped heavy drilling mud into the top of the Macondo well, pushing … Continue reading →

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Static Kill Procedure to Begin Today

Posted on August 2, 2010 by zerbe

BP technicians are in final tests to determine whether to proceed with the plan to pump heavy drilling mud into the Macondo well. Tests today involved slow injections of mud into the well to make sure the pumped mud will … Continue reading →

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