Bob
21st July 2015, 16:47
27,000 unused oil/gas wells existed in the Gulf of Mexico, in deep and shallow water as of 2010 when BP's Gulf oil disaster happened. Today that amount has increased.
Over 3700 wells with TEMPORARY seals, so that the oil companies can go back in and get the oil when the price is UP, and possibly when an older producing well has started to dry up..
http://images.pennwellnet.com/ogj/images/ogj2/9644jsk01.gif
A temporary seal is designed to last for a couple years. Over 3500 wells that were "temporarily" sealed are now more than a year old, exposed to the salt water and sea bottom conditions.
Undersea oil wells are subject to corrosion and intense pressure at depths down to almost two miles below the water's surface. Drilling penetrates as far as six miles into the seabed. Immense pressures exist at those depths, and the potential for leakage or "blow-out" continues to increase every day these temporary seals are subjected to the environment.
The worst-ever offshore U.S. waters oil well disaster, the Macondo well of BP, occurred while the company was in the process of temporarily closing. A well of that volume and pressure was being temporarily sealed so that "production" could resume at a later time. The Macondo well is located roughly 41 miles (66 km) off the Louisiana coast. BP was the operator and principal developer of the Macondo Prospect .
The accident killed 11 workers and spilled up to 172 million gallons of oil. Federal officials defend their well safety efforts since then, and there have more permanent closures.
From 1960, there have been 50,637 wells drilled in the Gulf of Mexico. Of that 21,783 produced. The rest are supposed to be properly plugged and abandoned, OR are temporarily sealed to allow for "re-entry" at the time the oil company feels it is desired to do so.
Source - AP, and BOEM (http://www.data.boem.gov/homepg/data_center/index.asp)
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management - Government Management Organization
Over 3700 wells with TEMPORARY seals, so that the oil companies can go back in and get the oil when the price is UP, and possibly when an older producing well has started to dry up..
http://images.pennwellnet.com/ogj/images/ogj2/9644jsk01.gif
A temporary seal is designed to last for a couple years. Over 3500 wells that were "temporarily" sealed are now more than a year old, exposed to the salt water and sea bottom conditions.
Undersea oil wells are subject to corrosion and intense pressure at depths down to almost two miles below the water's surface. Drilling penetrates as far as six miles into the seabed. Immense pressures exist at those depths, and the potential for leakage or "blow-out" continues to increase every day these temporary seals are subjected to the environment.
The worst-ever offshore U.S. waters oil well disaster, the Macondo well of BP, occurred while the company was in the process of temporarily closing. A well of that volume and pressure was being temporarily sealed so that "production" could resume at a later time. The Macondo well is located roughly 41 miles (66 km) off the Louisiana coast. BP was the operator and principal developer of the Macondo Prospect .
The accident killed 11 workers and spilled up to 172 million gallons of oil. Federal officials defend their well safety efforts since then, and there have more permanent closures.
From 1960, there have been 50,637 wells drilled in the Gulf of Mexico. Of that 21,783 produced. The rest are supposed to be properly plugged and abandoned, OR are temporarily sealed to allow for "re-entry" at the time the oil company feels it is desired to do so.
Source - AP, and BOEM (http://www.data.boem.gov/homepg/data_center/index.asp)
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management - Government Management Organization