OT: Why drill for oil in 5000 feet of water?

That's enough to supply US oil consumption for about a year.

--
Dirk

http://www.transcendence.me.uk/ - Transcendence UK
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/onetribe - Occult Talk Show

Three hours in Louisiana,

five hours for a round of golf.

John

To be fair, this was last year, not while oil was spilling...

FBt

In the last few weeks, he's spent a lot of time flying around, raising money for creeps like Barbara Boxer, fancy $35K-a-plate caviar and wine events at Gordon Getty's mansion.

At yesterday's press conference, he made a point that "we are in control of everything that's going on." That was just when the top kill was appearing to work. He may regret that statement.

John

If his head was just a little bigger, we could use it to plug the hole.

--
Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to
have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.

Fester Bestertester wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org:

we drill in such deep water because we have banned drilling in shallower water closer to shore. Unfortunately,it's a much more complicated task out in the deep waters far off-shore,with much higher risks.

But still no reason to forgo drilling,we just have to LEARN from our mistakes and move onward. We still need oil,and from domestic sources,not foreign. Cars,trucks,and planes do not run on other energy sources,not practically.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

Shades of Alexander Haig: "I am in control." That line hangs around as one of the greatest lies of all time.

.com/onetribe- Occult Talk Show

Actually, there are other estimates of 17bb, but a little outdated.

"U.S. Geological Survey - 1980. In 1980, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated the Coastal Plain could contain up to 17 billion barrels of oil and 34 trillion cubic feet of natural gas."

Another source indicates the offshore undiscovered reserves might be

86bb or maybe 5 times more, but more expensive to get, in terms of dollars, dead sea life, birds, unemployed fishermen, etc.

"The offshore areas of the United States are estimated to contain significant quantities of resources in yet-to-be-discovered fields. MMS estimates of oil and gas resources in undiscovered fields on the OCS (2006, mean estimates) total 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of gas. These volumes represent about 60 percent of the oil and 40 percent of the natural gas resources estimated to be contained in remaining undiscovered fields in the United States."

-Bill

snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org:

t

The shallower waters close inshore (up to 3 miles) are controlled by the nearest state.

Why drill in 5000 feet of water....Because that where the oil is! Like Dillinger said: "Why do you rob banks?"..."Because, that's where the money is." Seems obvious.

Land and in shore drilling has been largely exploited since about 1910 so new oil has to be found in areas previously too hard to get to like the deep Gulf. There are wells in 10,000 feet of water so this well isn't all that deep. Of course there is a lot of new drilling on land these days too. Most in shore areas are now banned from drilling.

The problem here is human failure to properly test and inspect the BOP and other critical equipment on the rig. Dead batteries, leaky hydraulic hoses, torn annular rubber seal, inoperative electronic modules plus a rush to complete the well have all contributed. Contaminated cement may also be a factor. The government MMS permitting process and lack of proper inspections also contributed. In sort, the government and industry has to clean up their act and strict oversight, testing, and safety drills, procedures and inspections must be instated. Also we may want to look at Canadian rules like requiring a relief well to be drilled along with and at the same time as a main well so it is in place should a blow out occur. In addition multiple redundancy of the BOP and other critical equipment may be required.

snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org:

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The oil companies are still sitting a large collection of leases on dry land. These include many that have been drilled and capped and others that have yet to be drilled.

Wow, a whopping 7.7 billion barrels, or over 10 billion barrel depending upon who you believe. What are you waiting for!

The US uses in the order of 20million barrels a day. I'll do the math for you, that's about two years worth of oil if you start being a bit more frugal.

So if that's your "biggest untapped land-based oil deposit" then you guys are rooted. Better start getting even more friendly with those "terrorists"!

Dave.

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The US does have huge amounts of natural gas. Worst case, we could run cars on that. Or annex Canada.

John

Short term thinking, there's diesel and plants that capture sunlight into oil every efficiently. Grow them in marginal dry country too. You need solar that's hitting the planet now, not limited fossil solar.

Grant.

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http://bugs.id.au/

Sounds great, except that the numbers don't work.

John

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Compressed natural gas makes quite a nice engine fuel. It has a lot of hydrogen in it. This means more energy per unit CO2. It also burns very nicely. You can up the compression ratio and gain a bunch of efficicency.

If the price of oil included the extra cost of the military to guard the shipping routes, the natural gas option would be a natural. As it is the oil is effectively subsidized vs the gas.

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What about solar electric?

The numbers seem to suggest solar electric panels can be produced and sold for about $5 a watt or less. At 15 cents a KWH, a 1KW panel (6 hours a day) should produce 6KWH or 90 cents a day ($329 a year) from an investment of $5000 which is about 6.5% return. Factoring in cloudy and rainy days, and equipment deterioration, the return would be somewhat less, or possibly more in ideal locations.

-Bill