Oil Spill Could Go On For Years, Experts Say - RawStory

[WillyT]

Oil spill could go on for years, experts say
By John Byrne
Friday, May 14th, 2010 -- 9:12 am

<snip>

The retired chairman of an energy investment banking firm told National Geographic in little-noticed comments Thursday that efforts to stop the oil leak under the Gulf of Mexico could prove fruitless and than oil could gush into the ocean for years.

Matthew Simmons, retired chair of the energy-industry investment bank Simmons & Company, said that BP and the US military's engineers are more or less clueless about cutting off the flow.

"We don't have any idea how to stop this," Simmons said. The former banker mocked a proposal to try and plug the leak with trash, saying it was a "joke."



Simmons noted that the pressure at 5,000 feet undersea -- where the well site is located -- is so high, that containment efforts are likely often to fail. At 5,000 feet underwater, blocking elements have to be able to hold even with pressures off 40,000 pounds per square inch.

Incoming American Association of Petroleum Geologists chief David Resink says the oil reservoir that is feeding the spill is colossal.
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"You're talking about a reservoir that could have tens of millions of barrels in it," Resink said. At the current spill rate, it "would take years to deplete," he added.

<snip>

More: http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0514/76111/

:wtf:

:banghead:

[Oregone]

1. Theyll fix it. They set up a hotline for ideas!

Please note...Confuciuns who say something about "man who avoid problem wiser than man who fix them" aren't welcomed to call

[marylanddem]

2. horrific.

this is just unfathomably fucked up.

[Lint Head]

3. This is the result of Global Fascism.

Corporations break laws with impunity and can get away with it because they are budgeted to pay a fine and walk away.
Torture, environmental destruction, killing human beings and animals are all a part of just doing business.

Corporate rights needs to end world wide!

[gristy]

4. This clown is an investment banker

Gee, what interest would he have in making people think this thing will never be plugged?

He's been mouthing off for weeks, apparently. There was a big thread on him saying the same thing a couple weeks ago.

I guess he may be right. Until it's plugged. Then he's wrong. But then again, he only says it "could go on for years".

Wanna bet with him that it will? You wanna take the side that it will? In fact, he'll be happy to take the other side of that bet.

[nashville_brook]

6. what does an investment banker have to gain from public outrage against the spill?

are we supposed to look the other way and ignore it b/c an investment banker has a gloomy outlook for plugging the hole?

trying to make sense of your reasoning.

[fishwax]

5. they seem to have not made progress thus far

and I don't see that they're any closer to fixing it today than they were last week. Of course, I didn't catch the news today, so perhaps there's been a miracle :banghead:

[FBI_Un_Sub]

7. Centralia PA at sea ?

Is this going to be a Centralia Pennsylvania of the sea. Centralia PA is the town in Pennsylvania with a long-smoldering coal mine --- generally uninhabitable.

[WillyT]

8. Morning Kick...

:kick:

[blindpig]

9. "it would take years to deplete"

This is a crime against humanity.

Expropriate without compensation.

[Duppers]

10. Doom for most non-plant life forms

IF this volcano continues unabated for YEARS, then it will pollute the oceans of the entire planet.

This pollution would severely inhibit, or could possibly even stop, photosynthesis.

It is estimated that between 70% and 80% of the oxygen in the atmosphere is produced by marine plants growing on the continental shelves.



I'm not at all superstitious, but could the Mayans be right?



edited to correct spelling.