-By Kevin Roeten
In one of the worst oil spill disasters of the century, you can always count on the creme rising to the top. True, 11 riggers lost their life when the BP Deepwater Horizon blew up and caught fire. President Obama is under the impression that no more oil drilling can be done offshore for fear of an environmental catastrophe. Why does he ignore what becomes crystal clear from the accident? The fact that crude is seeping through the ocean floor, and is especially pronounced in the Gulf, indicates it’s in the Gulf in vast quantities.
The failed blowout preventer in the Deepwater Horizon leaking the oil is under 5000 feet of water, and we know a foot of water provides 0.4335 lbs/in2 at 1 foot deep. Therefore, at 5000 feet of water, there is ~ 2000 lbs/in2 of water pressure the oil has to overcome at the blowout preventer. Bottom line, the oil wants to escape its entrapment—badly. That does not include the 18,000 additional feet the oil must traverse through earth before it even gets to the 5000 ft ocean depth. At a 22,000 foot depth, the oil could easily be abiotic, instead of biotic.
Silver Lining of Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill”