I am me, I am free
8th July 2010, 11:02 AM
I haven't heard much reference recently regarding the amount being vented daily from the Macondo well. I think we may have been de-sensitized to it.
When BP internally estimated the free flow of the Macondo well, they put it at around 100,000 barrels a day. I'm sure they based this on the size of the wellbore with the drill stem in it along with the pressure - this isn't that difficult to do relatively accurately.
Now consider this, the size of the fire subsequent to the initial blow-out and before the DWH sank -
http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/04/23/alg_oil_rig_explosion.jpg
I cannot readily find a current image of the scene, but no doubt just about everyone has seen a recent image of the scene over the Macondo well where they are burning off oil and gas from flares on at least two of the ships. Here's one (this image is apparently from mid-June, flares are larger now) -
http://www.chem.info/uploadedImages/CHEM/News/2010/06/ci6-15Burn.jpg?n=4327
I recently heard in the media that BP is burning off 8,000 barrels a day via flares on scene. Given the size of the two combined flares as a reference point, I'm guessing that the initial fire was at least 10-12 times larger than the flare fires, making the output of the Macondo well in the 80,000-100,000 barrel a day range.
Anyone else care to venture a guess by comparing the size of the flare fires to the initial fire on the DWH?
When BP internally estimated the free flow of the Macondo well, they put it at around 100,000 barrels a day. I'm sure they based this on the size of the wellbore with the drill stem in it along with the pressure - this isn't that difficult to do relatively accurately.
Now consider this, the size of the fire subsequent to the initial blow-out and before the DWH sank -
http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/04/23/alg_oil_rig_explosion.jpg
I cannot readily find a current image of the scene, but no doubt just about everyone has seen a recent image of the scene over the Macondo well where they are burning off oil and gas from flares on at least two of the ships. Here's one (this image is apparently from mid-June, flares are larger now) -
http://www.chem.info/uploadedImages/CHEM/News/2010/06/ci6-15Burn.jpg?n=4327
I recently heard in the media that BP is burning off 8,000 barrels a day via flares on scene. Given the size of the two combined flares as a reference point, I'm guessing that the initial fire was at least 10-12 times larger than the flare fires, making the output of the Macondo well in the 80,000-100,000 barrel a day range.
Anyone else care to venture a guess by comparing the size of the flare fires to the initial fire on the DWH?