The work going on to close the well is taking multiple approaches, and I am aware that BP has sent out a message to all the oil companies asking for help and advice. And I actually sent some people to BP in terms of the spill response cleanup to try to get them aware of a process that has been used in the Arabian Gulf that has not been used in the Gulf of Mexico, and that is to use supertankers, empty supertankers, to suck up the oil off the surface, where they can store the oil, they can treat the water, they can discharge the water and then they can either salvage the oil or destroy it, as the case may be. And I know the mayor of New Orleans and a few other officials are now asking BP about that process as a result of these engineers coming forward from Saudi Aramco. ... That would be the biggest the world has ever known. And they used six supertankers to clean up the oil and were very successful. We'd do well to get supertankers in the Gulf.Indeed!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
That Mess in the Gulf
This article talks about the political fallout that our President might see if the blown well in the Gulf isn't controlled soon. Then, John Hofmeister, the president of Shell from 2005 till 2008 made the following observation.
And this could have ALL been prevented if they'd have used the correct BOP... They used a surface unit vs. a deep ocean unit (about 1/4 the size and 1/4 the cost). In all probability, that is what allowed the methane up the pipe, rather than preventing the blowout and starting the fire. It will be interesting to see how long before this little detail becomes public...
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