Hurrah ! BP Oil Spill has been stopped !

[Doc]

"Slowed."

The oil spill appears to be slowing.

For some reason, BP's webcams are all focused on equipment rather than the plumes at the moment, but when they turn the right camera on or redirect a camera you'll see that oil is still coming out.

Here's a response to the somewhat premature declaration by the LA Times:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2726692920100527

BP (BP.L) is continuing with its "top kill" operation to try to plug its leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well but has no immediate update to give on whether it has succeeded, a BP spokesman said on Thursday.

Spokesman David Nicholas was responding to a Los Angeles Times report that had quoted a U.S. Coast Guard admiral leading the oil spill response as saying the top kill procedure had succeeded in blocking the leak.

"The top kill operation continues, there are no operational updates," Nicholas told Reuters.

[davester]

Actually, BP staff have contradicted that earlier report. The "top kill" procedure is still underway and has not yet been proven to be fully effective.

[macphanatic]

Unless someone outside the US looks into this, it will just disappear. Apparently BP was in favor of having the special $500,000 valve installed that might have prevented this debacle. BP's wishes were overruled by other parties that had a say in the construction of this well.

[Doc]

macphanatic wrote:
BP's wishes were overruled by other parties that had a say in the construction of this well.

Produce an authoritative citation or admit that's BS.

[decay]

http://flowingdata.com/2010/05/26/bp-tri...th-graphs/

BP senior vice president Kent Wells explains in this new video what his group is doing towards repairing the leak. He presents the bar graph above to show the improvement in their efforts. It's increasing, so they must be improving. Nifty. The problem is that it's cumulative, and the rate at which they're collecting isn't improving.

like a comedian said, regarding STOP versus SLOW DOWN...

if someone started beating you with a club, would you want them to STOP or SLOW DOWN???

[TLB]

Psurfer wrote:
1/2 to 1 MILLION barrels a day were gushing out (BP's initial bs "estimate" was 5000 barrels a day!), which will negatively alter the life of the sea and eventually the entire planet, for the rest of our lives, and beyond.

If investigations prove the cause of this (and the death of 11 men on the rig) was BP's sheer greed, then I hope the company is bankrupt by lawsuits in return, and that criminal charges are brought as well.

Imagine what the Chinese govt would do to them if BP was CP...

When referring to 1/2 to 1 million, I believe the reports have switched to gallons vice barrels, whether for convention or shock value. This compares to BPs inital report of 210,000 gallons a day.

[Grateful11]

Sounds like great news to me.

[Rick-o]

decay wrote:
Big Oil = Big Money, which pays for LOTS of good lawyers to make things go away.

Look at what Exxon got away with when Valdez leaked.


as usual, the Golden Rule = those with the gold make the rules.

This statement is where you and I are in total agreement! (tu)

[macphanatic]

Doc wrote:
[quote=macphanatic]
BP's wishes were overruled by other parties that had a say in the construction of this well.

Produce an authoritative citation or admit that's BS. BP didn't build the rig. Hyundai and Haliburton did. Haliburton had the job for the well head and cementing it. Cheney is a known opponent of the valve.

Haliburton had problems with a well head blow out last year off the coast of Australia.

Articles about Haliburton's involvement with the well construction:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/30...58481.html
http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archi...ill/56131/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424...69072.html

The details about BP getting over ruled on the valve had not been made public yet and may not be for some time. I got my information from someone that has some involvement with the rig and has been in the petro-chemical industry for 30 years. Whether or not you wish to believe it is your choice. I have no reason to doubt the individual who told me about this.

[decay]

http://www.halliburton.com/ps/Default.aspx?navid=1&pageid=23

Halliburton originated oilfield cementing and leads the world in effective, efficient delivery of zonal isolation and engineering for the life of the well. Operators consistently rank Halliburton Cementing No. 1 in total value provided to customers.

from May 10:
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/05/hallibur...hed_c.html

WASHINGTON -- Oil services contractor Halliburton Inc. says it safely finished a cementing operation 20 hours before a Gulf of Mexico rig went up in flames, killing 11 men and ultimately causing a massive oil spill.

In testimony prepared for a congressional hearing Tuesday, Halliburton says it completed work on the well according to accepted industry practice and federal regulators.

Halliburton executive Tim Probert says a pressure test was conducted after the work was finished, and the well owner decided to continue. A copy of the testimony was obtained by The Associated Press.

The cause of the April 20 explosion is under investigation, but lawsuits filed after the disaster claim it was caused when Halliburton workers improperly capped the well -- a process known as cementing. Halliburton denies wrongdoing.

April 30:
http://ir.halliburton.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=67605&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1420736&highlight=