BP says crude may continue flowing into gulf until August - Polidicks

As BP prepared to implement another fallback plan to contain the worst oil spill in U.S. history, Obama administration and BP officials said crude could continue flowing into the Gulf of Mexico until August. The "American people need to know that it is possible we will have oil leaking from this well until August when the relief wells will be finished," presidential adviser Carol Browner said on the CBS show Face the Nation. Browner also warned that the spill could get worse for several days as BP attempts to put in place another containment structure. That effort will involve cutting a pipe that rises from the seabed, and because a kink in the riser may be limiting the flow, cutting it could release as much as 20 percent more oil over a period of four to seven days, Browner said. Hopes for an earlier solution were dashed Saturday when BP conceded defeat in its attempt to plug the well through a maneuver known as a "top kill." The effort involved pumping mud into the runaway well, but the pressure of the leak proved overpowering. The failure of the top kill left a deepening sense of despair in the Gulf region, where the spill threatens the ecology, the economy, and a way of life for people in the fishing industry. The Obama Administration is fighting to gain control of an environmental and political calamity that has grown to unexpected proportions and has caught both the government and industry ill prepared. The next step is to try capping the well with a containment structure from which oil can be channeled to the surface and collected. If the seal is less than snug, leakage could continue. BP managing director Bob Dudley said on NBC's Meet the Press that the aim of the next maneuver is to contain the majority of the flow. The operation will take four to seven days, and it has a better probability of success than the top kill. The outcome should be clear by the end of this week, Dudley said. The administration and the oil company say the flow ultimately can be stopped by drilling relief wells, a slow but proven process that is intended to relieve the pressure from the vast undersea oil field. Despite recent setbacks, Browner expressed confidence that the relief wells will work, saying the worst case scenario is that the spill continues until their expected completion in mid-August. Browner said an administration "brain trust" led by Secretary of Energy Steven Chu determined it was too dangerous to continue adding pressure to the well through the top kill maneuver ¿ "that things could happen that would make the situation worse." Appearing on CNN, BP's Dudley said it is possible that the relief wells might be the only way to stop the flow. But Dudley also expressed optimism about the next step to contain the spill, saying on CBS, "with this, we think we can contain the majority of the oil and gas." "Again, we're operating at the frontiers of human endeavor at 5,000 feet. And there is risk with it," he said. Browner said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that BP is using oil dispersants on an unprecedented scale, and Environmental Protection Agency Director Lisa Jackson has directed the oil company to "use less." "If we have reason to believe that even less should be used, Jackson will issue the appropriate order," Browner said. Both Browner and Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House energy independence committee, said that BP had a financial interest in lowballing its estimate of how much oil is flowing into the gulf. BP initially estimated roughly 5,000 barrels per day were spewing from the well. However, last week a group of scientists estimated up to 19,000 barrels are leaking daily. "If it's 1,000 barrels per day, it's a relatively low fine," Markey said. "But if it's 10,000, 15,000 or 20,000 per day, it could wind up billions of dollars in fines that BP executives have to pay." He added that BP executives "were either lying or they were incompetent." "If the word 'criminal' should be used in terms of an environmental crime against our country," Markey said, "what's going on in the Gulf of Mexico is going to qualify, yes." Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) said BP "made enormous mistakes and probably cut corners." Appearing on CNN"s State of the Union, Vitter said the federal government has failed in its response to the crisis, "particularly with the effort to protect our coast and our marsh." [url]http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/30/AR2010053002195.html[/url] [IMG]http://www.twilightearth.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/bp.jpg[/IMG] The wetlands, the gulf coast, everything is fucked. :smithicide:

[QUOTE=Wakka;22260835]The wetlands, the gulf coast, everything is fucked. :smithicide:[/QUOTE] And so is all the fucking Oil, great fucking job BP.

sure is one hell of a sticky situation we're in.

Wakka, you sure do post some sensationalist articles..

This will be the new BP logo soon. [IMG]http://imgur.com/HSnW0.jpg[/IMG]

If BP can't plug the hole by August then something's up. Have a more competent company do it for them.

BP is screwed.

[QUOTE=w 1 z;22260864]sure is one hell of a sticky situation we're in.[/QUOTE] bp sure ain't [i]slick[/i]

I hope BP goes bankrupt from this.

Please god yes.

I hope BP goes into financial ruin for this. Destroying a large swath of ecosystem in what could be the worst environmental disaster in United States history should cost more then just a few billion dollars and a slap on the wrist.

Fuck. We were worried about running our of fossil fuels before this? Now we're boned.

[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;22261603]I hope BP goes into financial ruin for this. Destroying a large swath of ecosystem in what could be the worst environmental disaster in United States history [/QUOTE] it already is

[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;22261603]I hope BP goes into financial ruin for this. Destroying a large swath of ecosystem in what could be the worst environmental disaster in United States history should cost more then just a few billion dollars and a slap on the wrist.[/QUOTE] [Img]http://i.imgur.com/3JFae.jpg[/Img] :saddowns:

[QUOTE=AmericanInfantry;22261110]If BP can't plug the hole by August then something's up. Have a more competent company do it for them.[/QUOTE] Relief wells like these can't just be whipped up in a matter of days, no matter what company is working on them. We're talking about trying to drill under thousands of feet of water, it's extremely complex engineering.

why did it have to be british petrol i have a feeling a lot of movies are gonna need english bad guys soon

[QUOTE=Ali121;22261804]Relief wells like these can't just be whipped up in a matter of days, no matter what company is working on them. We're talking about trying to drill under thousands of feet of water, it's extremely complex engineering.[/QUOTE] They're a multi-billion dollar company with access to the most advanced drilling/mining equipment money can buy. It will be expensive and complex, but they certainly can do it. [editline]02:51PM[/editline] [QUOTE=thisispain;22261818]why did it have to be british petrol i have a feeling a lot of movies are gonna need english bad guys soon[/QUOTE] The British are pissed that they didn't take New Orleans in 1815, they're just using a different angle this time :v:

[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;22261839] The British are pissed that they didn't take New Orleans in 1815, they're just using a different angle this time :v:[/QUOTE] heh we don't want it anymore that's alright

Oil: 7,500 BP: 0

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJPI-BHol7w[/media] :colbert:

Only a matter of time for people to make a parody of those commercials.

......The moment a seafood shortage comes up in Louisiana, that CEO is gonna have a price on his head. I for one love my seafood, and there has got to be people who are willing to kill for it. Seriously though, this is all bullshit. BP needs to either start funding the cleaning or just jam their executives or their massively swollen paychecks into the well.

This makes me cringe... Do you know how much [I]fucking[B] money [/B][/I]they are losing.

Drill baby drill :downs:

[QUOTE=ubertaco;22263014]This makes me cringe... Do you know how much [I]fucking[B] money [/B][/I]they are losing.[/QUOTE] Money doesn't matter, think of the how much to the environment this is causing

This happened 30 years ago, same things they did, same order. It went on for 6 months, and look at what impact it had on the gulf up until the day before this oil spill. Hardly anything

I wonder how long it is since the BP CEO has had a good night's sleep...

[QUOTE=ubertaco;22263014]This makes me cringe... Do you know how much [I]fucking[B] money [/B][/I]they are losing.[/QUOTE] They aren't losing anything, they'll compensate by raising the prices

[QUOTE=Laserbeams;22265937]They aren't losing anything, they'll compensate by raising the prices[/QUOTE] Nobody will buy oil when it gets over a certain price, prices of products can reach their high point and then they will jump the shark if they go over the high point. It's a common things for companies to stay in the high point and never go over it to avoid bankruptcy.

fucking pricks wring them for every penny they're worth and toss them aside like a two dollar hooker.