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athelindFrom The Rachel Maddow Show, a few nights back:
Right now, we have a catastrophic uncontrolled petroleum gusher in the Gulf of Mexico, and another spill up in Alaskan waters.
Who needs new footage? We can just rerun reports from 1979, when almost exactly the same thing was going on.
To recap (no pun intended):
The only difference is that in '79, the well was 200 feet down; now, it's over five thousand.
My father used to have a saying about four wheel drive vehicles: "They won't keep you from getting stuck. They just let you get some place even farther from help when you get stuck."
The oil companies keep talking about how their technology has imnproved—but it's just let them get even farther from any solutions.If When shit hits the fan, they don't actually have any new solutions; they're just trying the same things that didn't work before.
"But that trick never works!"
*Yes, that is a request for specific instances, if anyone out there feels like dredging them up. Like Wikipedia, however, I want citations.
Right now, we have a catastrophic uncontrolled petroleum gusher in the Gulf of Mexico, and another spill up in Alaskan waters.
Who needs new footage? We can just rerun reports from 1979, when almost exactly the same thing was going on.
To recap (no pun intended):
- A blowout on a rig in the Gulf of Mexico.
- A rig run by the company that eventually became Transocean.
- Exactly the same techniques used to stem the flow
- In exactly the same order
- With exactly the same results:
- BUPKIS.
- After months and months of gushing oil, matters were only alleviated when relief wells were drilled.
- Why didn't they just go for the relief wells first this time?
- Have "top hats" and "top kills" ever worked?*
The only difference is that in '79, the well was 200 feet down; now, it's over five thousand.
My father used to have a saying about four wheel drive vehicles: "They won't keep you from getting stuck. They just let you get some place even farther from help when you get stuck."
The oil companies keep talking about how their technology has imnproved—but it's just let them get even farther from any solutions.
"But that trick never works!"
*Yes, that is a request for specific instances, if anyone out there feels like dredging them up. Like Wikipedia, however, I want citations.
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no subject
Date: 2010-06-11 01:23 am (UTC)There have been improvements in kill fluids and guiding the relief wells but I haven't seen any solution other than relief wells for a blowout that doesn't have an operational valve stack in place and an intact well casing.
It would be interesting designing the equipment to install a capping assembly however. Less interesting, but necessary, are improvements in cementing technology.