Matt Simmons: Second Gulf Leak is Huge. Obama may need nukes.

[swag]

From Barry Ritholtz:

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/05/senasational-claims-by-matt-simmons-about-the-bp-leak/

Matt Simmons gained fame with his book 2005 Twilight in the Desert where he claimed that the Saudis were overstating their oil output because they hit “peak oil.” Right or wrong Simmons claimed the price of oil was going to skyrocket and three years after the book’s release the crude oil hit $147/Barrel.

In January 2009 the WSJ called Simmons one of the five most important voices in the oil industry.

Simmons has been wrong in the past and his views are non-conventional and often correct. Simmons is also highly connected within the oil industry so he knows who to talk to verify his claims.

I have no idea if Simmons is right or wrong but his latest claims, laid out in a Bloomberg TV interview Friday (May 28) appear to be nothing short of sensational.

Matt Simmons says “Top Kill” is a sideshow, misses the big problem of a second leak 5 to 7 miles away releasing up to 120,000 barrels/day. Simmons goes on to say we might need nukes to seal the leak.

. . . more

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/05/senasational-claims-by-matt-simmons-about-the-bp-leak/

[Skink]

1. what second leak?

[swag]

2. From the link -

"Last Sunday, NOAA confirmed reports of a second fissure about 5-7 miles from the original. This new fissure appears to be releasing a plume the size of Delaware and Maryland combined! He went on to state that “the plume from the riser is minor thing… the best estimate is about 120,000 barrels of oil per day”."

[struggle4progress]

3. It's unclear to me why one should expect nukes to seal the leak

If one detonated a nuke deep in the ocean, one might fuse everything shut, but one might also expect massive fracturing that produced a worse problem. Moreover, one will produce a tremendous pressure wave. We're currently told NK sank an SK vessel by detonating a little torpedo a some distance from it: the pressure wave from an underwater nuke will be substantial and will damage everything within a considerable distance

[spin]

4. I keep hearing rumors of the second leak ...

If there is indeed a much larger leak and BP is covering it up, I would hate to be in Tony Hayward's shoes.

May 31, 2010 – On Sunday, BP CEO Tony Hayward made news again, with an assertion that there are no underwater oil plumes from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This is in direct contradiction of several scientists who have reported plumes of what they believe to be oil from BP's ruptured well many miles from the site.
http://www.examiner.com/x-47892-Environmental-News-Examiner~y2010m5d31-Gulf-oil-spill-No-underwater-oil-plumes-says-BPs-Tony-Hayward-disagrees-with-scientists

[lob1]

5. Nukes are a fantastic Idea. What the oil doesn't kill, the radiation will.

[CoffeeCat]

8. BP is probably the one fronting the nuke idea...

...then they can blame the nuke for the damage, instead of themselves. Or at
least, they can make the case that the nuke makes it unclear what did the damage--the
oil or the nuke.

We all know that the worst of the oil-gusher damage hasn't even begun to surface.

Wouldn't it be so convenient for BP to have a scapegoat? So, when more fish, pelicans,
dolphins and other creatures wash up on the shore dead--they can have the nuke factor
to muddy the waters about who/what is exactly responsible?

[femrap]

6. Shit....

I've read rumors of a second leak and the one they're showing is nothing compared to the real voilcano!

Diaspora.

WASF.

[drm604]

7. That article claims that the NOAA has confirmed a second fissure 5-7 miles from the original,

but it does not source that claim and I cannot find any other reference to such a claim, not even on the NOAA's website. http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/topic_subtopic_entry.php?RECORD_KEY%28entry_subtopic_topic%29=entry_id,subtopic_id,topic_id&entry_id%28entry_subtopic_topic%29=811&subtopic_id%28entry_subtopic_topic%29=2&topic_id%28entry_subtopic_topic%29=1

That makes me very skeptical of that claim and the article in general.

[HooptieWagon]

9. Why is there a leak 5-7 miles away?

The riser was only a mile long, and it's crumpled and twisted on the bottom. The sunk rig is less than a half mile away. What is the source and cause of this alleged second leak?

[flyarm]

10. where the hell is our government..please do not tell me they wouldn't know of a second leak...

just where the hell is and has been our government??????????????????

[truedelphi]

11. I imagine that if BP has told them about the second leak, they know about it, otherwise

They don't.

Obama Admin is all "see no Evil. Hear no evil. Keep moving forward, don't look back."

In fact, it is safe to say that Obama refuses to even look sideways. If he had looked sideways, he would have known that MMS was a very weak agency, complicit and beholden to Big Oil. In fact, Kendall had the report on the MMS/industry collusion with industry underway - if only she had called and let him know.