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BREAKING: Top kill stops Gulf oil leak (Coast Guard report)

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Statistical Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:25 AM
Original message
BREAKING: Top kill stops Gulf oil leak (Coast Guard report)
Edited on Thu May-27-10 10:26 AM by Statistical
'Top kill' stops gulf oil leak, official says
Drilling fluid has blocked oil and gas, U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen says. Engineers plan to begin pumping in cement and then will seal the well.

Reporting from Houma, La. —
Engineers have stopped the flow of oil and gas into the Gulf of Mexico from a gushing BP well, the federal government's top oil-spill commander, U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, said Thursday morning.

The "top kill" effort, launched Wednesday afternoon by industry and government engineers, had pumped enough drilling fluid to block oil and gas spewing from the well, Allen said. The pressure from the well was very low, he said, but persisting.

Once engineers had reduced the well pressure to zero, they were to begin pumping cement into the hole to entomb the well. To help in that effort, he said, engineers also were pumping some debris into the blowout preventer at the top of the well.


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oil-spill-top-kill-20100528,0,5782115.story
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slackmaster Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:28 AM
Response to Original message
1. KILL KILL KILL!
Edited on Thu May-27-10 10:29 AM by slackmaster


Thrill, thrill, thrill
Kill, kill, kill
Make the scene,
Knock off a Dean.
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Bump off a square.
That's what it's all about.
Hate is in,
Love is out.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah
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zeemike Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:29 AM
Original message
hopefully this nightmare is over.
And we can concentrate on the nightmare of the clean up.
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Statistical Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:31 AM
Response to Original message
5. Agreed the cleanup will be a monster ...
Like someone drowning in credit card debt you can't start digging your way out until you stop increasing the debt.

Also it is only mud holding back the oil right now. It will be another day (or more) before they can cement the well solid.

Lets hope everything goes good until then.
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Donnachaidh Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:29 AM
Response to Original message
2. BP has already poo-pooed this report hours ago -- NOT breaking news!
:eyes:
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ShortnFiery Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:31 AM
Response to Reply #2
6. It was announced on MSNBC that the good Admiral Allen has MIS-SPOKE.
Surprised?
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Statistical Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:32 AM
Response to Reply #6
8. SHIT! n/t
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ShortnFiery Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:37 AM
Response to Reply #8
9. Not totally. The good news is that "we're still waiting" to see if it will take.
I hope and pray that this complex maneuver does, in fact plug the leak.
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Statistical Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:38 AM
Response to Reply #9
10. Yeah I just kinda wanted a resolution.
This nightmare has been going on for so long with so many false claims by BP.

I have this urge for it to be OVER.

Then again markets seem to think BP has done it. BP stock up 7% today.
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BeFree Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 11:35 AM
Response to Reply #10
21. Maybe....
...maybe I am taking this the wrong way.... but you say you have "this urge for it to be over".

5 weeks and you just now have an urge?
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Statistical Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 11:44 AM
Response to Reply #21
23. Always on the attack BeFree.
Maybe you should "be free of your hatred and near constant mistrust"?
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BeFree Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 11:56 AM
Response to Reply #23
24. well
How about "kinda wanted a resolution"?

Why in the world why I attack you? Just quoting and asking you questions. Geez.
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AndrewJacksonFaction Donating Member (471 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:45 AM
Response to Reply #6
15. Actually, it was the reporters who "misunderstood what Allen was saying".LOL
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HughMoran Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 11:41 AM
Response to Reply #2
22. What does that mean?
Numerous stories since are reporting the flow has stopped - do you dispute that?
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tekisui Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:29 AM
Response to Original message
3. Another ship loaded with the mud is heading there,
then will come the cement and the cap. I wonder when the cement will start and what changes we can expect to observe when the cement gets pumped.
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ShortnFiery Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:43 AM
Response to Reply #3
14. As I understand it, as a layperson monitoring the comments on "The Oil Drum" site ...
is that the cement will be one of the final steps. We should know soon thereafter if, this effort, did work.

Geek 7, et. al. has me personally convinced that these delicate maneuvers are way above both my IQ and pay grade. :silly:

geek7 on May 27, 2010 - 11:30am

"I am trying to work out why ... "

A theory:
Enough mud has gone down hole to stop upward flow from the reservoir, but there remains a large bubble of gas above that downhole mud and the BOP. Enough mud is being pumped into the kill/choke lines to keep that gas bubble from venting from the cracks above the BOP.

If this is correct, they will have to back off on the pump rate VERY CAREFULLY in order to allow the gas to vent. This might allow more oil to escape with the gas, leading to a further decline in their credibility. But gas holds pressure pretty much indefinately, e.g. pnumatic tires on autos. So reality will trump PR. IF this is correct.
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Statistical Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:51 AM
Response to Reply #14
17. So it sounds like they may intentioanlly allow it to "leak"
Edited on Thu May-27-10 10:57 AM by Statistical
to clear gas from the "mud pack". Solid column of mud (100s of meters deep) is much stronger than mud mixed with gas bubbles.

Now that has to be a delicate operation. Back off the pressure enough to let gas bubble out but not to much so you avoid losing more mud than necessary.

As long as the BOP is open on the top mud will flow out which requires replacement mud to be continually pumped in.
This "mud" is actually synthetic drilling fluid so they don't want to do that forever. So they cement the top of the BOP to stop the mud "loss".

Now the thing that is unclear is, is this permanent? Or is it just temporary until relief wells are complete.

I mean relief wells will inject the well solid with cement that sounds are lot stronger than a mud pack and cement "cap".
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DCBob Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:49 AM
Response to Reply #3
16. I suppose a pile of cemment wil appear where the BOP once stood..
A monument to our addition to oil and greed to find more and perhaps to the death of the Gulf. :(
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Urban Prairie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:30 AM
Response to Original message
4. Drilling fluid?
It was and is heavy mud that they are pumping into the well, not drilling fluid. I will keep hoping for success, but do not trust any premature reports yet.
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Statistical Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:32 AM
Response to Reply #4
7. Drilling fluid is a synonym for drilling mud.
Edited on Thu May-27-10 10:34 AM by Statistical
Technically drilling fluid is the correct name. Drilling mud is just an anacronism from when mud mixed with heavy weight oil was actually used.

Today "drilling mud" is technically a very thick blend of synthetic oil. Has high density, good lubrication properties, and is capable of removing the extreme heat generated at the drill head.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drilling_mud
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gateley Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:41 AM
Response to Original message
11. It's good, though, that so far it seems to be going according to plan. I read a
report yesterday that said with each additional hour, they became more hopeful.
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flamingdem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:42 AM
Response to Original message
12. They still have a long way to go, the relief well is still needed this is stop gap
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Statistical Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:43 AM
Response to Reply #12
13. It buys us time and even better "flow free" time.
Edited on Thu May-27-10 10:45 AM by Statistical
If this can stop the flow of oil we can "wait" for relief well without dumping another million barrels into the Gulf.

Waiting 60 days with a flow of 0 (or very low) is a lot better than waiting 60 days with flow running nonstop 24/7.
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flamingdem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:52 AM
Response to Reply #13
18. I do feel much better. So far, so good
except that I promised I'd even give Tony the CEO a hug if this works;{
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Statistical Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:54 AM
Response to Reply #18
20. Ouch. Not sure I could step up to that plate.
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BeFree Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:54 AM
Response to Original message
19. imagine that
.... the one thing they had there to close the well, and they finally used it. WOW.

And it happened just as people decided that they weren't going to just lie down and get used to it?

Funny how that works, eh?
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