Commentary By Ron Beasley
Ken Anderson told us about a worse case scenario below but is there an even worse worse case scenario? Over at Energy and Capitol Christian A. DeHaemer presents us with one.
The problem is that BP may not only have hit the mother of
high-pressure wells, but there is also a vast amount of methane down
there that could come exploding out like an underwater volcano.I recently heard a recording of Richard Hoagland who was interviewed
on Coast to Coast AM.Mr. Hoagland has suggested that there are cracks in the ocean floor,
and that pressure at the base of the wellhead is approximately 100,000
psi.Furthermore, geologists believe there are another 4-5 cracks or
fissions in the well. Upon using a GPS and Depth finder system, experts
have discovered a large gas bubble, 15-20 miles across and tens of feet
high, under the ocean floor.These bubbles are common. Many believe they have caused the sinking
of ships and planes in the Bermuda Triangle.That said, a bubble this large � if able to escape from under the
ocean floor through a crack � would cause a gas explosion that Mr.
Hoagland likens to Mt. St. Helens... only under water.The BP well is 50 miles from Louisiana. Its release would send a
toxic cloud over populated areas. The explosion would also sink any
ships and oil structures in the vicinity and create a tsunami which
would head toward Florida at 600 mph.Now, many people have called Hoagland a fringe thinker and a
conspiracy theorist. And they may be right... But that doesn't mean he
isn't on to something.
BP has been unwilling to release the mudlogs which would make it possible for those outside the company to evaluate the situation. Is it because they know it will show just how dangerous the situation is? And why did BP capitulate on the on the 20 billion dollar escrow account? DeHaemer:
I don't know... Maybe I'm wearing my tinfoil hat too tight this
morning... But this stuff seems possible � if it's only a worst case
scenario.What strikes me as odd is the way the leadership of BP and the Obama
administration is acting.BP is running around apologizing to everyone they can find. Obama
says give us $20 billion in escrow and $100 million for the people Obama
put out of work on the oil rigs due to his six month ban � and BP says,
"Sure thing mate, no problem."And all of this in a 20-minute meeting?
I've been dealing with oil companies for a long time and it just
doesn't add up...Contrast it, for instance, with the Exxon situation in Alaska or the
Union Carbide disaster in India.Exxon fought tooth and nail for its shareholders; it appealed court
rulings for 19 years. Union Carbide wasn't settled for 25 years.BP is rolling over like a simpering dog. Why?
The only reason I can think of is that the company knows � better if
not as well as the Obama administration does � that it will get worse.Much worse.
Thanks, Ron. Didn't realize that BP rolled over that easily. Yeah, smells funny.
ReplyDeleteDeHaemer is right. BP knows that even $20 bil is a fucking rounding error compared with their eventual liability. I predict that the company will either go bankrupt or become nothing but a vessel through which America (and eventually Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe...) copes with the ocean of shit pouring out of that well.
ReplyDeleteAlso BTW, the history of geology is stuffed with events that human experience lacks language to even describe (e.g., calderas). I would have loved to see the Laurentian ice dam break, as long as I could see it from a relatively safe distance, maybe geosynch orbit.
You're not doing Newshoggers' reputation any favors by promulgating this stuff.
ReplyDeleteHoagland's current claims are unlikely to have any more connection with consensus reality than his prior arguments that Phobos and Iapetus were manufactured by aliens, that NASA is covering up evidence of alien relics on the Moon and Mars, that the 11 September attacks were a Masonic conspiracy, and that factions of a secret supra-national World Government are waging an interplanetary war in space.[1]
While a stopped clock will be right twice a day, calling Hoagland a stopped clock would be an insult to broken timepieces.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_C._Hoagland
We all may reasonably doubt a source such as Hoagland, but don't lose sight that a lot of actual petroleum engineers are speaking up and pointing out all the real things that could go wrong. You don't need to believe in giant subsurface pockets of methane to see that things can get way, way worse. The worst case scenarios are not beyond the realm of easy understanding, especially if the BOP collapses and leaves the hole wide open.
ReplyDeleteYou mention here that this is disconnected from "consensus reality." I think we all would like you to explain how and when "consensus reality" has been proved correct in this case or in recent years. The fact is, there is no consensus realty because BP is covering up most of underwater facts, and doing things in secret. If there is a consensus reality, it is being manufactured through commission and omission.
The bottom line is, if the "consensus reality" agreed upon by corporate and political mandarins is your basis for actual reality, chances are you will sadly disappointed.
I was talking to someone I know last night who is a geologist for one of the majors who told me that BP had trouble finding a partner for this well and in fact was warned not to drill there because of the gas pressure. As for the "consensus reality"; the worst case a month and a half ago has become the best case today and the worst case today is apocalyptic.
ReplyDeleteConsensus reality always lags the real. And it will lag the real in this case, at precisely the same rate at which BP is able to keep the facts from public view.
ReplyDeleteThat apocalypse meme is resonating elsewhere.
ReplyDeletehttp://broadwaycarl.blogspot.com/2010/06/posted-by-armadillo-joe-hey-blog-o.html
The Gulf gusher hasn't been stopped or even slowed. It very likely can't be stopped and will probably go on gushing like it is right now, only ever more voluminously, for years. Perhaps decades. BP may very well have triggered environmental armageddon and we will see, for the first time since the Dust Bowl era, environmental refugees as the Gulf states empty of people.
How bad is it? Worse than you could possibly imagine. The criminal conduct begins (not surprisingly) with management.