Matt Simmons was an energy adviser to President George W. Bush, is an adviser to the Oil Depletion Analysis Centre, and is a member of the National Petroleum Council and the Council on Foreign Relations. Simmon is chairman and CEO of Simmons & Company International, an investment bank catering to oil companies.
Simmons told Dylan Ratigan that "there's another leak, much bigger, 5 to 6 miles away" from the leaking riser and blowout preventer which we've all been watching on the underwater cameras:
I have no idea whether or not Simmons is right. The government should immediately either debunk or admit his claim.
If accurate, the bigger leak could have been caused by the destruction of the well casing when the oil rig exploded. That is Simmons' theory.
Or it could be caused by a natural oil seep, although the odds of a seep of that size occurring right around the time of the Deep Horizon disaster is nearly zero.
There is another possibility.
It is well-known that there were previous accidents at the Deepwater Horizon rig. For example, as AP notes:
From 2000 to 2010, the Coast Guard issued six enforcement warnings and handed down one civil penalty and a notice of violation to Deepwater Horizon, agency records show.
On 18 different occasions during that period the Coast Guard cited the vessel for an "acknowledged pollution source."
And as 60 Minutes reports:
[Mike Williams, the chief electronics technician on the Deepwater Horizon, and one of the last workers to leave the doomed rig] said they were told it would take 21 days; according to him, it actually took six weeks.
With the schedule slipping, Williams says a BP manager ordered a faster pace.
"And he requested to the driller, 'Hey, let's bump it up. Let's bump it up.' And what he was talking about there is he's bumping up the rate of penetration. How fast the drill bit is going down," Williams said.
Williams says going faster caused the bottom of the well to split open, swallowing tools and that drilling fluid called "mud."
"We actually got stuck. And we got stuck so bad we had to send tools down into the drill pipe and sever the pipe," Williams explained.
That well was abandoned and Deepwater Horizon had to drill a new route to the oil. It cost BP more than two weeks and millions of dollars.
"We were informed of this during one of the safety meetings, that somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 million was lost in bottom hole assembly and 'mud.' And you always kind of knew that in the back of your mind when they start throwing these big numbers around that there was gonna be a push coming, you know? A push to pick up production and pick up the pace," Williams said.
Asked if there was pressure on the crew after this happened, Williams told Pelley, "There's always pressure, but yes, the pressure was increased."
But the trouble was just beginning: when drilling resumed, Williams says there was an accident on the rig that has not been reported before. He says, four weeks before the explosion, the rig's most vital piece of safety equipment was damaged.
It is therefore possible that there has been another ongoing leak which BP has tried to cover up.
I don't suppose you have a link to the story about the previous accident?
ReplyDeletethis makes me so mad.
ReplyDeleteand BP of course will get away with a slap on their hand.
and then back to business as usual.
if this guy is right - and BP won't admit it - how can we find out that there really is more oil spilling out if the entire gulf is already covered in it anyway?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLJHTTOSkpg&playnext_from=TL&videos=PuEao00b7Y8
ReplyDeleteletterman recently joked on his show "where is red adair when you need him?" when he was talking about the BP spill. so i wanted to know yeah where is he? a quick search reminded me that the great man passed away in 2004. another entry on wikipedia said that two companies founded by people who have worked under adair - IWC and boots and coots have been sold to - HALLIBURTON! in april 2010. hmmm, interesting. those guys are probably the ones who have the most know how on how to fix this kind of mess (see also the guys in the video above mentioning red adair's technique) but now they're part of the enemy.
ReplyDeleteSince last Friday about a dozen acquaintances (at a St. John's Prep re-union) my brother and a few others have asked some simple questions: "if this is what is really happening, why don't these guys know what to do?"
ReplyDeleteAnd "why does that 'jet' of oil on YouTube look like a slow leak with fish swimming through it rather than a high-speed jet of something under enormous pressure?"
Here is a very good thread on the "top kill" and the Simmons comments:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theoildrum.com/node/6516#more
Simmons is well respected in the peak oil community.
ReplyDeleteSome of this made good sense, some of it, well, I don’t think so. The supertanker idea of "vacuuming" up the huge layer of oil is a great idea. Why haven't they done it? I will tell you why. They don't want the general public to know that it exists. If they can stop the flow, that will take this story somewhat out of the news, then they can quietly, get in there and vacuum up the oil on bottom.
ReplyDeleteMy assessment about the “top kill” it is futile because of the questionable cementing done on the production casing. Reports of not letting it set long enough, hours instead of days and the fact that a cement bond log was not run. Check this report out about the Schlumberger logging crew, who left the rig just before the explosion because of dangerous conditions,
http://www.thomhartmann.com/forum/2010/05/smoking-gun-bps-deep-horizon-mess
Also the supposed “live” feed (I have seen convincing evidence that this is just a loop type broadcast) shows 4 plumes coming from the well head area. To me this means that the flow has already breached the casing or cement sheath otherwise you would see only one stream of oil (the inside casing). Unless they are going to pump mud down the 4 points simultaneously, it will not shut off the oil. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why they have waited this long to do something besides contain the oil.
Concerning the containment box: I suggest putting it to a new use. Place it over the top of the well head and let it sink into the sea floor. Then pump cement into the box, displacing the water and oil out the top. This should smother the blow out and seal off the flow around the well head area. Continue drilling the directional relief well to permanently kill the well at the bottom to take the pressure off of the containment box concrete plug at the sea floor. A 1000 ton concrete box or whatever weight it is is a large mass covering a wide area. Why would this not work?
Finally, the idea about the bomb in the hole is crazy. These are soft sediments that they drilled through, really nothing but soft sand and clay. A down hole explosion would create fractures and fissures throughout the area. Sounds like a good way to release the entire contents of the reservoir in one month into the Gulf through a half a mile wide conduit. Red Adair and John Wayne used explosives to blow the oxygen away from the well head fire so they could cap the blow out. Any oxygen at the bottom of the Gulf?
Remember, Simmons is an investment banker. Not an engineer.
Some of this made good sense, some of it, well, I don’t think so. The supertanker idea of "vacuuming" up the huge layer of oil is a great idea. Why haven't they done it? I will tell you why. They don't want the general public to know that it exists. If they can stop the flow, that will take this story somewhat out of the news, then they can quietly, get in there and vacuum up the oil on bottom.
ReplyDeleteMy assessment about the “top kill” it is futile because of the questionable cementing done on the production casing. Reports of not letting it set long enough, hours instead of days and the fact that a cement bond log was not run. Check this report out about the Schlumberger logging crew, who left the rig just before the explosion because of dangerous conditions,
http://www.thomhartmann.com/forum/2010/05/smoking-gun-bps-deep-horizon-mess
Also the supposed “live” feed (I have seen convincing evidence that this is just a loop type broadcast) shows 4 plumes coming from the well head area. To me this means that the flow has already breeched the casing otherwise you would see only one stream of oil (the inside casing). Unless they are going to pump mud down the 4 points simultaneously, it will not shut off the oil. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why they have waited this long to do something besides contain the oil.
Concerning the containment box: I suggest putting it to a new use. Place it over the top of the well head and let it sink into the sea floor. Then pump cement into the box, displacing the water and oil out the top. This should smother the blow out and seal off the flow around the well head area. Continue drilling the directional relief well to permanently kill the well at the bottom to take the pressure off of the containment box concrete plug at the sea floor. A 1000 ton concrete box or whatever weight it is is a large mass covering a wide area. Why would this not work?
Finally, the idea about the bomb in the hole is crazy. These are soft sediments that they drilled through, really nothing but soft sand and clay. A down hole explosion would create fractures and fissures throughout the area. Sounds like a good way to release the entire contents into the Gulf through a half a mile wide conduit. Red Adair and John Wayne used explosives to blow the oxygen away from the well head fire so they could cap the blow out. Any oxygen at the bottom of the Gulf?
Remember, Simmons is an investment banker. Not an engineer.
Viewing the video feed right now and all you can see is particles of something floating around.
ReplyDeleteEarlier it was showing the numerous leaks jetting fluid. The flow seemed to be much heavier than earlier today.
There is a new hole in the pipe or whatever it is they are showing:
http://j.imagehost.org/view/0402/newholebop
What I want to know is why they aren't showing the end of the pipe. That is all they showed us for the last week, but now we have this other view. Also why didn't they show this leak currently being shown before?
I wanted to add something here that I noticed. For 2 days I watched this "SAID" Top Kill on CNN LIVE.
ReplyDeleteI sent my Ham Radio friends links to the video and I said this, "Look!! The CAP is Swelling and the PAINT is even Peeling off." Then I nothiced Some Camera adjustments as they moved the cam to see the far right side as it seemed the lid had popped up and was creating another leak. So there was 4 Leaks total on top of a White Cap that was Peeling Paint.
NOW!!! Looking at this Video. This don't even look like that pipe.
I also submitted a Question to USGS of how Texas pumps Seawater into Old Wells to get more oil out. Shortly after that it Causes Earth-Quakes. I asked since about Day 7 it looked like the Ground CAVED IN NEAR the WELL HEAD and if you search Blogs you will see Others Noticed this too. I asked the USGS if The GAS has releases Pressure and now Seawater was finding it's way down into the Well now too... WOULD there be a CHANCE that this could cause something with the NEW MADRID QUAKE FAULT???
They have yet to respond to me.
BUT, I don't think this Video is the same video that I was watching on CNN just 4 Days ago. I think the Well Head blew off with the amount of pressure they were pumping the Mud into the casing with.
My Two Cent's Worth.
Keith
Here is the Video I was watching.....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAHS5z6QKok
Show me how THIS WELL HEAD looks like the Video You just watched here above on the MSNBC post... They are TWO DIFFERENT Camera VIEWS. WERE IS THE WELL HEAD???
Keith
Post 911, US Internal Revenue Service authorities instituted a Foreign Tax Project (FTP) which encompasses a global search for mass quantities of cash possibly or connected with or influenced by international terror organizations. The DEA is also heavily involved in the efforts of the IRS.
ReplyDeleteIn a coordinated effort to avoid paying US tax debt, investigators report that these cash transactional flow are directed to such well known tax havens as Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Belgium, Luxemburg, United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
In addition, it is also a well known fact within the intelligence community, that large Arabic and Russian conglomerate trusts are routinely held by the aforementioned countries financial institutions.
Confidential sources report that the first round of individuals reportedly under scrutiny with potential international border detainment are: UK Resident Mr Jeffry Block, born 4-1961, Liechtenstein Resident Mr Martin Sontion, born 5- 1958, Luxemburg Resident Mr Antony Ban, born 9-1968 and Dutch Resident Mr. Bernardus Schook, born 8-1964. Sources supposes also suggest that several of these persons is well known to have close connections with several persons who are wanted by the DEA.
OK, time to clear something up. If they used a bomb it would NOT rupture the reservoir. A fact people seem to be overlooking is that the reservoir is 18,000 feet below the sea floor. That's 3.4 miles, folks. No explosive on earth can fully penetrate 3.4 miles of solid rock. So STOP saying that to nuke the hole would release the reservoir, because that's just silly.
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ReplyDeletehttp://www.360cities.net/image/full-moon-at-camas-rubha-a-mhurain-scotland#124.25,-19.16,22.8
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