Friday, May 14, 2010

A volcano of oil erupting

A volcano of oil erupting

New video showing largest hole from pipe 5 feet in diameter spewing oil and natural gas at ~4 barrels per second, along with analysis of the amount of oil on the surface, supports the estimates closer to 1 million barrels per day erupting from this hole BP popped in the ocean floor that contains trillions of barrels of oil and natural gas.


Screenshot from John Wathen's video of the oil devastation. Here is shown some large vessels trawl around the huge Development-Driller-III which is drilling a side hole to reduce pressure or to plug up the hole dug by Deepwater Horizon. This is expected to take 2-3 months, considering hurricane season coming.


Mainstream reports are starting to discuss the fact that the oil slick rising from the oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico simply has to be a whole lot larger than first reported.

My first report on this stated that the total could easily be 5,000 barrels per day. I said this when the report was that only 1,000 barrels per day was the stated total. I was being cautious because I knew the total was much higher and I knew the public would not believe the real totals. Most people simply could not imagine a well of the size involved.

Now I will discuss the real facts that are known and what the educated guesses on the topic indicate. Prepare to get your jaw off of the floor. The facts are stunning.


Pre-Drilling Estimates and Assurances

BP estimated a spill of 165,000 barrels per day would not even reach land! That is what they told the US Government before they drilled the well. They had excellent science on their side, which you can begin to comprehend when you understand how oil reacts in salt water, as we will briefly discuss below.

The fact that the spill has reached land clearly states that the size of the spill is probably well above 200,000 barrels per day. Yes, that's BARRELS, not gallons. There are 42 gallons per barrel.

To get a full estimate we have to look at the process of sinking an oil slick and count money. A newly released video of the larger of the two leaks also contributes to our understanding of a minimum estimate of the flow erupting from this man-induced volcano of oil.


When An Oil Spill Originates on the Surface

Here is what happens when oil hits the salt water. If it is poured on top of the sea, oil begins to do several things. First some of it dissolves in the salt water. This dissolving is a bit limited but amounts to several percent per day of the spill exposure to the ocean. Some of the oil evaporates. This is several percent per day. This slows over time. As the oil dissolves and evaporates the parts that do this are primarily volatile fractions. These are things like Gasoline and other light components that go away pretty quickly. Once these are gone the remaining oil is heavy fraction crude. This begins to sink into the water very slowly, eventually falling to the ocean bottom over about 6 weeks. Typically this floats into an area where the shoreline is and embeds about 18 inches deep in the sand. This buried oil is not harmless. Just because the beach might appear on the surface to be clear, the sub-surface oil continues its toxic work. It locates precisely where the little sea creatures live, and it goes on killing them for about 10 years.

The reason a slick would carry farther than predicted is that the salt water is saturated with oil and the air around it is saturated, so the slick cannot dissipate. In the case of the BP Gulf leak, the size of the slick and the location of on shore oil say this slick represents at least 2 times the amount of oil BP estimated would never reach land -- or 330,000 barrels per day, minimum. This is an educated guess, borne out by aerial photos and the like.


When Oil Shoots Up Through 5000 Feet of Salt Water -- Fractionating Column

In the case of the BP underwater hole, the slick is not being poured on top of the water. It is coming up from the ocean bottom that is 1 mile deep at that point. That fact raises stunning questions on how big the well releases are.

Rising through 5000 feet of water, the oil is going through a process that the oil men call Fractionating. Literally the tremendous pressure and temperature issue are the equivalent of taking the oil and boiling it in a cracking tower 5000 feet high. The oil and Natural Gas change on their way up. The very light, easy-to-evaporate parts are all that is rising to the surface.

The heavy oil isn’t even getting to the top. That oil is losing its volatile fractions and is being dragged along with the rising column into the surface water where it is probably distributing as tar balls that are not being skimmed up or burned or otherwise dispersed.

In fact the chemicals added at the well head to disburse the oil, speed this process up. This oil is mixed into the water for the top 250 feet or so. Salinity and temperature issues probably keep this oil from ever reaching the very top of the water. The exact behavior here will not be known until studies are published some years from now. This is the first time humans have encountered a deep ocean leak of this magnitude. We're in uncharted territory here. Volume per volume, it is highly probable that due to this fractioning, this oil blowing into the ocean from a mile down is causing far more ecological trouble than a surface spill of similar size.

It is also certain that the slick volume on the surface is substantially lower than the rising column of oil. This is a key point to bear in mind. Because of this fractioning, what you see from the air on the surface of the water represents maybe just 20% of the volume of the various types of oil in that area. And we're talking an area the size of Maryland (10,000+ square miles) that is on the surface. The remaining 80% is under the surface; and all of it is highly toxic to the living organisms encountered.

All of this brings into serious question the volumes of oil rising. Every factor suggests massively higher numbers than what has been commonly reported.


Video of Slick

Here is a video that Alabama resident John Wathen shot as a volunteer pilot flew him over the area where the Deepwater Horizon oil rig sank. He said, "It's not a leak, it's a volcano spewing oil."



As we watch this, and see other photos and videos from the air and ground/sea level, we can agree with Wathen's comment: "The Gulf appears to be bleeding," which is chilling, considering the prophecy in Revelation 8:8: "The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze [appearance of the burning rig and slick], was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed." Most ships cannot travel through oil-infested waters without damage, any more than jets can fly through volcanic ash-infested airways.


Budgeting an Oil Rig

There is also another factor that says that the numbers are vastly higher than published to date. That is money. The BP investment in this well is very high -- close to a billion dollars. They must earn over $5,000,000 a day off of the well in order to pay back their investment. (That was before the explosion, and doesn't count the cleanup costs, etc)

They were, until the well blew, extremely happy with the well. In fact, on the day of the explosions, executives were on board celebrating the well's success.

This well had to produce over 60,000 barrels per day in order to break even. Shocking as it seems, this well would have been closed in and disposed of had it produced a minor total like 20,000 barrels per day. That would have been a "Dry Hole"! It wouldn’t have paid for the pipes to bring the oil to market. The fact that BP management was aboard the rig and very happy, celebrating, just prior to the explosion says the well probably produces more than 200,000 barrels per day. It might well have produced 500,000 or more. Royalties to the US Government multiply the numbers for break even by about 2:1 so 500,000 barrels per day is very realistic. And that is what they would have been celebrating while things were under control.

With this in mind, remember that this well is running wild. A wild well produces far more than a well during normal production. This is why it is so dangerous. The conclusions for how much is coming up are simply unbelievable.


Natural Gas

The Natural Gas emissions are stunning as well. As you watch the film remember the pipe is 5 feet in diameter.

The Natural Gas doesn't just bubble to the top of the ocean and release into the air. It is absorbed into the water, like air is absorbed, and actually creates oxygen depletion. Hence, the emission of natural gas of these volumes into the sea is producing a significant area of Oxygen depleted water in the Gulf of Mexico which may be very large threat to fisheries and other wildlife in the area.

Never forget this point. The spill was "Impossible" by the view of the oil men prior to this. The biggest cost of the spill cleanup is being borne by the US Armed Forces such as the National Guard etc. None of these costs will ever be paid by BP. These costs will appear in taxes not in the price of oil. Alternative Oil is vastly cheaper and safer than this.


Video from Largest Leak

Having just seen (as I write) the film of the larger of the two leaks under sea, I can say with my trained eye that the volume coming out of the hole is in the order of 4 barrels per second (around 350,000 barrels per day).

As you look at this, it might seem like a small hole, and a small amount of oil. But bear in mind that the diameter of the pipe is 5 feet -- five feet wide! Those deep sea drilling rigs don't make small diameter holes like you might be used to seeing on land. Some of those huge drilling rigs, which make an aircraft carrier look like a toy boat in comparison, put down huge pipe. The rig that is on site now, Development-Driller-III, which is drilling a relief hole to reduce pressure from the hole dug by Deepwater Horizon, has a torque (drill twisting) rating of 78,450 ft-lbs. You who know torque will appreciate how huge that is. Yes, the hole opening is 5 feet in diameter, spewing approximately 4 barrels each second.



by Paul Noel with Sterling D. Allan
for Pure Energy Systems News

5 comments:

  1. Here is something you may not have seen.

    "BP oil disaster: how a deadly methane bubble triggered explosion "

    By Philip Sherwell in Louisiana
    Published: 4:44PM BST 08 May 2010 Telegraph.co.uk

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7696596/BP-oil-disaster-how-a-deadly-methane-bubble-triggered-explosion.html

    "Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph from the spill "front line" fishery town of Venice, Louisiana, Mr Hayward said that a crucial element of BP's approach was to make sure the local fishing community was provided for. "If we keep the local community on our side we will win," he said. "I'm determined BP will come out the other side stronger."

    He acknowledged early "missteps" over BP's handling of the crisis but said that was "hardly surprising" considering the scale of it. He said he was "proud" of the company's response."

    DO YOU BELIEVE THIS:

    " But Andrew Gowers, the company's communications chief said: "Hindsight is a beautiful thing but there has never previously been a blowout in 5,000 feet of water and never before has the blowout preventer failed to operate," he said. "This is an unprecedented situation, not just for BP but for the oil industry and we are inventing new technologies on the go tackle this." "

    ReplyDelete
  2. Call me optimistic, but Costner's fix sounds like a couple dozen mosquitoes trying to suck all the blood out of a heard of cattle...

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  3. I think that you are right on in your observations. I included some of your comments in my 1.5 min video. You can post it on your site, if you want. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-w4uyoX0ZE

    Reviews of video

    "Very impressive video with explanation that is easy to understand" by Katarina Lobodova

    "EXCELLENT. Thanks for the great explanation" by Debra J Frank

    "Fascinating. I watched several times and kept pausing it to really take it in." by Verna Moore

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  4. I realize there is a total news blackout by our own government and BP (which scares me even more), but why are the videos being removed?

    Also, what is the "real reason" for the Navy getting out of Dodge (the Gulf area)?

    ReplyDelete
  5. That would be pretty cool awesome videos clips are there. I am always flowing out love for all people around the world whether they know it or not I pray for them every night because I know people are suffering. I wish for Jesus to come again soon because its hard to live knowing how people in the past suffered and died in terrible tragedies and also those who are suffering today.


    earthquake

    ReplyDelete

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