Worst case scenario - what if all attempts at stopping the leak fail?

[-..__...]

Any estimates on much oil might be in that particular spot, or how long it could continue spewing crude before it's tapped?

[tammywammy]

1. It will leak until the relief wells are completed is the worst case. n/t

[LeftyFingerPop]

4. There is no guarantee that the relief well bit will hit what it is supposed to hit. n/t

[HughMoran]

9. They claim they often have to back up and try again

So, between the 2 relief wells and the fact that they can make repeated redirects until they hit the well bottom, they will eventually get it, though it may take longer than expected.

[dbonds]

6. Lets hope the relief wells don't blow out too...

seems very possible in this area.

[Avalux]

2. 7 years if nothing is done. Months for a relief well. n/t

[county worker]

3. It will be stopped by the two wells being drilled toward the gusher.

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. Will? "Could" is more like it.

:(

[tnlefty]

11. And I thought that one of the relief wells was taken off

duty to take it's BOP for the BOP on top of BOP strategy, so there is only one rig capable of drilling a relief well.

What a clusterfuck.

[Ruby the Liberal]

12. Gotta love it, right?

:freak:

[tnlefty]

16. Nope.

and Nope.

[leftstreet]

5. The rich will have to start buying their seafood off-planet n/t

[Warren Stupidity]

8. 50M barrels

That is BP's estimate.

[Clear Blue Sky]

10. Big Gulf spill in the late 70s took 9 months to stop using a relief well.

[Ruby the Liberal]

13. Bah. That was 30 years ago - back when we were still relying on Top Hats (Sombreros), Top Kills and

Junk Shots.

This is 2010!

:freak:

[tnlefty]

17. I loved that segment on Rachel's show...

the technology has been to get wells further out into the ocean, but the clean up is still the same. Pathetic.

Sombreros=Top Hats, Top Kills and Junk Shots are still Top Kills and Junk Shots, booms and skimmers are still booms and skimmers.

I say if the technology isn't there and advanced to clean up, don't drill'em.

[metapunditedgy]

14. We'll have to listen to 6 more months of talking points where people

keep wringing their hands and saying, "What do you want Obama to do? He's not Superman! He can only do what BP allows him to do!"

And the Gulf will be severely damaged, to boot.

[redirish28]

15. That is frightening but my biggest worse case scenario would be a hurricane

we get a strong hurricane in the right spot in the mess in the gulf and it travels up into the U.S. think about how that will that hurt our drinking water and food.

[lpbk2713]

18. We'll be able to walk from Tampa to Yucatan.

:sarcasm:

[doublethink]

19. ........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U7rOUSvYM8