Would it surprise anyone to know that BP had already developed the technology to accurately measure troublesome oil and gas flow mixtures at the well head two years ago? It can be done remotely and continuously, at up to 10,000 feet, with a clamp-on, calibration free, sonar flow meter, or that the company that sells and installs them is presenting at petroleum conventions in Calgary and Newfoundland this summer?
The reason BP does not want the true flow known, is that it would require them to pay the "legitimate" fines and royalties they owe on what is extracted, regardless of whether it is ever recovered. As of mid-June their violations of the Clean Water Act alone are around $10B.
The reason no other oil driller wants it known, is that they may own the next blowout and will also want to conceal their true obligations.
Here's Expro Meters' product video.
And here's a description of Expro Meters' product from ScandOil.com:And the following document - on BP's own website - contradicts everything they have said about not being able to accurately measure the rate of their Gulf oil leak (excerpt from p. 5 of BP's own Frontiers publication, August, 2008):Expro’s latest deepwater intervention technology will be showcased at both events. Expro’s AX-S system will break new ground in subsea well intervention when it comes to the market.
AX-S™ (pronounced ‘access’) brings cost-effective, riser-less intervention to deepwater wells (up to 10,000ft of water). Expro’s goal is to deliver a full range of wireline intervention services in deepwater wells at substantially less than the cost of using a rig.
***
Expro Meters offers wellhead surveillance on demand, utilizing a range of clamp-on sonar-based metering technology. Expro offers round-the-clock, 24/7 well surveillance, on any well type or location. Expro’s meters are clamp-on, non intrusive, easily installed and applied without production shutdown, providing operators with a permanent solution to their wellhead production surveillance needs.
Expro Meters are also available on demand to provide quick and easy well testing services through our portable clamp-on meters – anywhere in the world.
BP has identified that by combining sonar flow measurement with additional measured parameters, such as pressure drop in a flow line, both the liquid rate and the gas rate on a wet gas flow line can be determined. BP has proven this additional breakthrough in practice and expects to deploy the technique in the field by the end of this year.
It appears that measuring hydrocarbon flows which contain small but troublesome percentages of liquids or gas may be less problematic in the future thanks to BP's creative vision for sonar flow measurement.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
BP Had the Technology to Accurately Measure Amount of Oil Leaking into the Gulf 2 Years Ago
Congressman Markey - who chairs the select committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming and the Energy and Environment subcommittee - alleges:
What’s clear is that BP has had an interest in low-balling the size of their accident, since every barrel spilled increases how much they could be fined by the government.Markey and many others point to the fact that BP's fines under the Clean Water Act are based on how many barrels of oil have spilled.
It is therefore not very surprising that BP is pretending that it is difficult to measure the amount of oil spilling into the Gulf.
But a commenter at the Oil Drum points out that BP had the technology to accurately measure the amount of oil spilling into the Gulf - without damaging any equipment - 2 years ago (edited for readability):
4 comments:
→ Thank you for contributing to the conversation by commenting. We try to read all of the comments (but don't always have the time).
→ If you write a long comment, please use paragraph breaks. Otherwise, no one will read it. Many people still won't read it, so shorter is usually better (but it's your choice).
→ The following types of comments will be deleted if we happen to see them:
-- Comments that criticize any class of people as a whole, especially when based on an attribute they don't have control over
-- Comments that explicitly call for violence
→ Because we do not read all of the comments, I am not responsible for any unlawful or distasteful comments.
I've been wondering alot about why the federal government issued the injunction against deep water drilling given the economic consequences of this decision. The fed gov doesn't have a great environmental record and my guess is that some significant perceived threat or concern must have motivated the injunction. Could it be the methane issue? I'm really curious about this issue and wonder what will happen now that the injunction has been over-ruled.
ReplyDeleteThe GOM is now officially a cesspool of toxins.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.roffs.com/DeepwaterHorizon/ROFFSOil22JUNE10.pdf
Indeed. why not. the medical field has regularly measured "small" flows like blood out of the aortae (in your heart) using doppler echocardiography (a form of SONAR).
ReplyDeleteDue to this disaster, the public is learning what would otherwise be hidden in the jealous scowls of industry "executives".
Lying capitalists.
ReplyDeleteWho ever would have suspected.