Link to the article: Channel 4 News
By Julian Rush
Updated on 09 May 2010
Methane ice crystals halt BP's attempt to stem the flow of oil gushing from its well in the Gulf of Mexico. Methane too may have been the original cause of the fire.
The huge, 93 ton, steel and concrete box that BP had hoped to place over the leaking pipe from the well head has been moved 200 metres to one side while engineers decide what to do.
As they lowered it into position, a sludge of methane ice crystals began forming in the top of the box, clogging the hole where BP had hoped to fit a pipe to take the oil to a ship on the surface.
The methane comes from the oil itself, dissolved in it in the pores of the rock beneath the sea bed. Indeed, methane may have been the cause of the original fire.
Professor Robert Bea from the University of California Berkeley, a former engineering consultant to BP, says he has seen transcripts of interviews with three survivors of the blast on the Deepwater Horizon rig. They say a gusher of oil and water spurted out of the top of the drill pipe on the rig as a bubble of methane gas rose up the drill column from the depths.
Alarms designed to warn of the highly flammable gas failed to go off, they said, and the huge cloud of invisible, odourless methane enveloped the rig and was ignited, perhaps by a spark from electrical equipment or motors.
Sunday, 9 May 2010
Monday, 3 May 2010
BP Gulf Coast oil spill poses 'logistical nightmare'
Link to the article: Channel 4 News
By Channel 4 News
Updated on 03 May 2010
As BP admits the operation to keep its oil spill away from the Louisiana coast could take three months, one expert tells Alex Thomson it is "a logistical nightmare".
The race to keep the oil offshore, as BP admits it could be three months before the leak is fully sealed.
Today saw a further fall in BP’s share price mid the unfolding disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. How long will it take to tame the gushing well 5,000 feet below sea level?
The company hopes to drop a dome over it before siphoning the oil flow away - but that will take a week. And to stem the leak altogether could take at least three months.
Tony Hayward, the head of BP, promised today that the company would pay for the leak, as he outlined plans to try to contain the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico . President Obama has called the leak a “massive and potentially unprecedented environmental disaster”.
Mr Hayward admitted it could be three months before the flow of oil from the ruptured well is capped. For now, the company is trying to drop giant metal hoods directly over the leaking pipe.
The spill has been growing steadily since an explosion sank the Deepwater Horizon rig eleven days ago. Scientists think it may have tripled in size and could threaten coastlines further east - towards Alabama.
By Channel 4 News
Updated on 03 May 2010
As BP admits the operation to keep its oil spill away from the Louisiana coast could take three months, one expert tells Alex Thomson it is "a logistical nightmare".
The race to keep the oil offshore, as BP admits it could be three months before the leak is fully sealed.
Today saw a further fall in BP’s share price mid the unfolding disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. How long will it take to tame the gushing well 5,000 feet below sea level?
The company hopes to drop a dome over it before siphoning the oil flow away - but that will take a week. And to stem the leak altogether could take at least three months.
Tony Hayward, the head of BP, promised today that the company would pay for the leak, as he outlined plans to try to contain the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico . President Obama has called the leak a “massive and potentially unprecedented environmental disaster”.
Mr Hayward admitted it could be three months before the flow of oil from the ruptured well is capped. For now, the company is trying to drop giant metal hoods directly over the leaking pipe.
The spill has been growing steadily since an explosion sank the Deepwater Horizon rig eleven days ago. Scientists think it may have tripled in size and could threaten coastlines further east - towards Alabama.
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