Guard watches coast for oil slick's first wave

You keep saying Obama hasn't provided support, but you fail to say what support he needs to provide that wasn't there on day one. From the very start the administration was on top of this based on the available information. The only expert minds are the ones that work for BP. The federal government aren't experts on oil wells and dealing with leaks. Apparently neither is BP at this point.

The Associated Press: Obama oil response: aggressive as crisis unfolded (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iGw5j_drnBauWXcnC9-obnID4GNAD9FILHSG0)

I agree with you that I don't care who gets credit or how it's fixed, but it needed to happen last month as fas I'm concerned.

Seems to me they want a government take-over of the disaster and a BP's private oil field.

The government has no deep sea expertise, nor do they have any equipment that could be used if the govt were to take over the cleanup. Sorry, but we are BP's bitch now. They can do whatever they want, put off operations however long they want, and there is nothing we can do about it.

I saw the underwater cam that traced where the dispersant had been sprayed. It is a dead zone, they found two fish. There is gonna be a very expansive dead zone in the gulf, on the USA side.

The government has no deep sea expertise, nor do they have any equipment that could be used if the govt were to take over the cleanup. Sorry, but we are BP's bitch now. They can do whatever they want, put off operations however long they want, and there is nothing we can do about it.

You make it sound like BP is delaying operations just because they can. That may be, I have no clue, but I would ask, why would they not move heaven and earth to close that spill as fast as possible? Every drop that flows out only costs them more in every considerable way that I can think of.
As for the govt not having the expertise, that might be true, but certainly they could, if necessary, get other oil companies with similar expertise involved.

There is no easy answer to this tragedy. I hope BP/Govt is doing everything possible to stop the flow as quick as possible.

You make it sound like BP is delaying operations just because they can. That may be, I have no clue, but I would ask, why would they not move heaven and earth to close that spill as fast as possible? Every drop that flows out only costs them more in every considerable way that I can think of.
As for the govt not having the expertise, that might be true, but certainly they could, if necessary, get other oil companies with similar expertise involved.

There is no easy answer to this tragedy. I hope BP/Govt is doing everything possible to stop the flow as quick as possible.

BP might be able to stop the leak if they stop trying to siphon oil out of it. Seems to me the only solution they have is the relief well. This will stop the leak and oh yeah by the way be another well they can still get oil from. If they seal it it is only temporary until the relif well is made. Seems to me they are not considering closing the well for good. Any solution they come up with has an oh yeah they are still gonna be trying to get that oil.

BP might be able to stop the leak if they stop trying to siphon oil out of it. Seems to me the only solution they have is the relief well. This will stop the leak and oh yeah by the way be another well they can still get oil from. If they seal it it is only temporary until the relif well is made. Seems to me they are not considering closing the well for good. Any solution they come up with has an oh yeah they are still gonna be trying to get that oil.

Well, duh. Why would they not continue to get oil from it? That still doesn't mean they aren't going to stop the leak as quickly as possible.

Well, duh. Why would they not continue to get oil from it? That still doesn't mean they aren't going to stop the leak as quickly as possible.

Well it should have been stop the leak bump the oil, until we can evauluate what's going on. The whole mentality has been we'll stop the leak but we are gonna get this oil. These fools had a long ass straw in the well connected to a tanker while all this oil continues to kill the gulf.

The relief well (the only way that for sure will stop the flow) was going to take a while no matter what.

Try to look at it this way. If they could have stopped the leak the day it happened, they would not have lost any oil, not paid for nearly as much cleanup, not faced nearly the governmental inquest that is now going to happen, and could have drilled the relief well at whatever pace worked. They still would capture all the oil, because as soon as the flow is capped it's not going anywhere until someone pumps it out.

Any oil that flows out unstopped is lost revenue, if they jam up the tube, they would have saved themselves much money, from oil lost, cleanup expenses, and whatever media/govt/public backlash may come.

I don't think it is quite as easy to plug this up as you seem to think it is.

Another way to think about it, and these numbers are simplified, but they are for demonstration.

Lets say for every 1 barrel flowing out the well now, that BP would have gotten $80. So for every 100 barrels they would have gotten $8000.
again for simplicity lets assume 1 barrel escapes per day, this is only to make the numbers clearer.
Example 1- plugged immediately, only 1% lost until relief well is drilled
If they plugged it day one, they would have lost 1 barrel or $80, plus the expense to plug it and drill the relief.

Example 2 - They plugged 1 week later, 7%% lost until relief well is drilled.
they would have lost $560, plus the expense to plug it and drill the relief, + additional cleanup

Example 3 - after 10 days they succeed with a siphon to recoup 90% of spewing oil until relief well is drilled
cost is 10% or $800 + $8per day for the remaining days till relief well is drilled, + cleanup + Relief well cost

Example 4: 3 weeks into it they start siphoning off 30% of leak into tanker.
Cost is 21% or $1680 + $56 per day until relief well is drilled, + cleanup + increased govt oversight + relief well.


Bottom line it is most economically positive for BP to shut down the leak anyway possible. If they had the means to do that, they would. As it is, they are trying to a) minimize their loss and b) minimize the impact by siphoning some off until the relief well can be drilled

I guess its just me as I have never really been very good at standing around watching people as they try to get something done and I usually jump right in. My thinking is the goverment have how many scientist, architects, developers, engineers, etc... so why not pick the best of them and have them down there trying to figure out a way to help stop this leak. The more people we have working on this problem the quicker we will get this thing shut down. Or we can just let BP use their limited amount of people and maybe wait another two months while they drill a new well. I do believe BP is trying their best but having more people working on a solution cannot hurt one thing. Hell they are allready on the pay roll so why not use them.