ROV Bump Apparently Causes Temporary Suspension of LMRP Cap Containment Operations; Choke Line Capture Continued Unabated
23 June 2010
BP temporarily suspended its LMRP Cap containment and removed the cap from the blowout preventer after observing a discharge from the vent earlier today that carries warm water down cap to prohibit hydrates from forming.
As a precautionary measure, BP said, it moved the lower marine riser package (LMRP) containment cap system—which is attached to the Discoverer Enterprise—off the Deepwater Horizon’s failed blow-out preventer (BOP) to ensure the safety of operations and allow the unexpected release of liquids to be analyzed.
Capture of oil and gas through the BOP’s choke line via a manifold to the Q4000 vessel on the surface continued. (Earlier post.)
During the morning’s media briefing, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the National Incident Commander for the Deepwater BP Oil Spill response, said that it appeared that a Remotely Operated Vehicle had bumped into the cap.
After assessing the cap and the discharge, BP has since begun operations to reinstall the cap on the BOP. Repositioning the LMRP Cap may take some time, the company said, and collection of oil and gas should commence shortly thereafter, returning to full capacity as conditions permit.
We are in the process of installing free standing riser pipes that will allow us to...increase production as we move into the month of July. The first freestanding riser pipe has been installed. They are testing it for pressure leaks today. And they will look at putting an anchoring system down. We are looking towards potentially next Tuesday bringing an additional production vessel online. That will get us to the previously briefed 53,000 barrel-a-day capacity. That’s not withstanding the removal the removal of the containment cap today for the issue that I just talked about.
—Adm. Allen
For June 22 (prior to the LMRP cap incident), total oil recovered was approximately 27,090 barrels:
- approx. 16,665 barrels of oil were collected,
- approx. 10,425 barrels of oil were flared, and
- approx. 54.4 million cubic feet of natural gas were flared.
I'm too disillusioned & disgusted with Obama's lack of leadership to plug the hole to even comment on this.
Posted by: ejj | 23 June 2010 at 07:02 PM
Ship races are obviously more important to the management of BP than reducing the flow of oil. BP ignored all of my messages of how to stop the flow quickly by not cutting off the pipe and replied with a form letter rather than distinct comentary from a trained engineer, as I am, as to why my suggestions would not work. Pumping liquid methane through the choke and top kill lines could freeze the tars in the oil and plug up the blowpout preventor to stop the flow in the pipe. A canvas curtain twice as tall as the blowout preventer that it surrounded could be lowered around the top cap and pipe and the water frozen inside of it with liquid methane to restrict the flow to the pipe and eventually freeze the pipe and blowout preventor shut. The top kill line could then be used to pump heavy mud into the well or first heavy steel chains.
Liquid methane pumped into the choke line whilst the pipe was still connected could have stopped the oil flow though the pipe in a few days if not hours. Supercooled propane could have done it as well. In a few days all of the leak would be plugged with coagulated oil. The coagulated oil in the top of the blow out preventor could stop the flow whilst the well was being plugged with concrete.
Explosive underground rings that can weld the well casing and all of the internal pipes shut should be required for all future wells anywhere under water in triplicate. These explosive rings were developed during the invention of atomic bombs that used plutonium, including the first and third ones exploded.
Why BP has not been lowering heavy metal rod chains into the well through the top hat collector line to plug up the well is beyond understanding. A freezing loop cooled by methane could be also inserted though the top hat line.
BP is holding the US hostage after having made much money in oil price speculation from the people of the US.
Obama now can order the start of a thousand coal to liquid fuel conversion units at coal fired power plants and coal mines themselves. The construction will create jobs and there will always be a market for the product. This will be ensured by a 35 dollar tax on imported oil.
The higher fuel prices resulting from this well failure are an intended consequence of BP efforts to keep oil prices far beyond the production costs. ..HG..
Posted by: Henry Gibson | 23 June 2010 at 11:33 PM
Umm Henry, not knowing why something does not work does not mean it will work.
The water pressure 1 mile down, and the pressure of the oil from under 14,000 more feet of earth (once you try to dead head the oil flow) change everything.
Posted by: ToppaTom | 24 June 2010 at 05:57 AM
Why they don't freeze the oil in place with a cryogenic liquid? Wouldn't that also make the metal brittle? There's reason to believe that's the last thing we need;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRiLBFywl3Q
Posted by: ai_vin | 24 June 2010 at 09:26 AM
HG: If USA impose a $35/barrel or 50% tax on imported crude oil, the other 190+ countries of the world would soon impose 100+% import taxes on all USA goods and services, including all products and services outsourced to lower labor cost countries by 5000+ USA firms.
This would trigger a worldwide trade war with dire consequences and would bring about a worldwide recession 10 times worse than 1929.
USA has many other ways to reduce imported crude oil and NG.
1) Review CAFE from 35 mpg to 45 or 50 mpg for 2015/16, and 2 or 3 more mpg/year thereafter.
2) Introduce an aggressive 20-year Malus-Bonus vehicle purchase program to promote the purchase of locally produced green cars and discourage the purchase of gas guzzler. The Malus portion could be an extra purchase tax based on liquid fuel consumption. Something like $100,000/mpg could be a good starting point.
3) Introduce a progressive increase in Federal liquid fuel taxes. It could be $0.02 to $0.04/gal/month for the next 120 to 240 months
4) Introduce a selective and progressive Fed + States increase in vehicle registration fees based on average liquid fuel used per year or mpg.
Example: A flat $10,000/year divided by average mpg would do.
a) Below 10 mpg vehicle = 10,000/10 = $1,000/year
b) A 20 mpg vehicle = 10,000/20 = $ 500/year
c) A 30 mpg vehicle = 10,000/30 = $ 333/year
d) A 40 mpg vehicle = 10,000/40 = $ 250/year
e) A 50 mpg vehicle = 10,000/50 = $ 200/year
f) A 60 mpg vehicle = 10,000/60 = $ 167/year
g) A 80 mpg vehicle = 10,000/80 = $ 125/year
h) Above 100 mpg vehicle = 10,000/100 = $ 100/year.
States could double this minimum Fed rate.
Sooner or latter, exporting countries will introduce a crude oil export tax to compensate for reduced production and to finance clean-up funds.
Changes in attitude and addictions have to be done progressively. USA can go from oil addiction to clean electricity over a 20 year time frame while creating 10++ M new jobs.
Posted by: HarveyD | 24 June 2010 at 09:31 AM
ejj: What do you expect our president to? Swim down to the BOP and block it with his body?
Posted by: Sanity Chk | 25 June 2010 at 09:41 AM
Why do so many American expect their President to be a Superman but expect so little of themselves? Has it got something to do with Santa..... or elastic immaturity?
Posted by: HarveyD | 25 June 2010 at 07:47 PM
HD & Sanity: From the NEW YORK TIMES, May 1, 2010, almost two months ago: "U.S. Missed Chances to Act on Oil Spill" http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/us/02gulf.html?scp=1&sq=federalize&st=cse "The federal government also had opportunities to move more quickly, but did not do so while it waited for a resolution to the spreading spill from BP. The Department of Homeland Security waited until Thursday to declare that the incident was “a spill of national significance,” and then set up a second command center in Mobile, Ala. The actions came only after the estimate of the size of the spill was increased fivefold to 5,000 barrels a day."
"A law passed a year after the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster makes the owner of a rig or vessel responsible for cleaning up a spill. But oversight of the cleanup is designated to the Coast Guard, with advice from other federal agencies."
Most important:
"If the government determines that the responsible party is not up to the job, it can federalize the spill, running the cleanup operations without the private company but billing it for the cost."
So there you have it...the federal government should have taken over, at least the cleanup, TWO MONTHS AGO. It is, and always has been, ultimately OBAMA'S responsibility. There is no excuse for oil to be hitting our shores with all the time they had to prepare. As for plugging the d a m n hole at the blowout preventer, that should have been federalized weeks ago, bringing in experts from around the country & other oil companies....the government could turn it into an X Prize, awarding a billion dollars to the winner & handing the bill to BP. The relief wells could still be BP's responsibility.
Thankfully the American people know Obama has failed on this and on many other levels which is why he'll be a one-term president.
Posted by: ejj | 26 June 2010 at 10:41 AM