Oil industry expert Matt Simmons says that BP is not telling us the full story, and that independent research performed by the Thomas Jefferson research ship suggests that over 120,000 barrels per day are spewing into the gulf. At this rate we would exceed the current oil spill world record in about 25 days.
Matt Simmons on Bloomberg:
I think basically we now know a whole lot of better information from the scientists who are totally disputing what BP’s story has been.
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What the Thomas Jefferson found in a week is the most specific information we know. Basically 1100 meters below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico is a 300 – 400 meter lake of very heavy oil that has spreading so fast that it’s covering potentially 40% of the Gulf of Mexico.
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They’re actually now predicting that it’s 120,000 barrels a day. But more importantly, they are almost certain, because of the lack of being able to detect where to well bore was, because they can’t get within three miles of it because there’s too much fire, there’s no metal there so the casing’s gone. With no casing it’s an open hole and the only way we’ll ever put it out is by detonating something that will fuse the rock right above the oil column into glass. And the only way that anyone’s ever done that is the four times the Soviets did that in the seventies with a very small bore nuclear device.
So I think that’s now our only option.
Let’s hope that Mr. Simmons is wrong and that the leak is not as bad as he claims scientific evidence suggests. However, if the recent actions by our Federal Government and BP are any guide, the problem may very well be as big as independent reports suggest and perhaps the only option left if the relief wells fail will be to detonate a nuclear device. It’s all speculation at this point because neither BP or the Federal Government has given us any truthful information on the matter and the media blackout in the Gulf and on our shores continues unabated.
Defining Irony: A green energy, non-proliferation President presides over the largest domestic (potentially global) oil spill in the last 100 years and is then forced to detonate a nuclear weapon to seal it shut.
Watch the Bloomberg Interview with Matt Simmons:
They may think the nuke will fix things, but wait until it wakes up Godzilla. And this time he won’t be attacking Toyko.
Other “experts” rightly remind that the New Madrid fault  goes right through  that area .   So we seal the leak, end up flooding New Orleans again, and collapse  Memphis and ST. Louis…….talk about your basic urban renewal.  //
Now they are reporting that methane is leaking into the gulf.
Bad Idea , Along with the current hole we are now finding that the oceaen floor has cracks in it that are also leaking . A nuke might open them up even worse . Lostinmissouri , I did not know about the new Madrid Fault connecting thru that area , and thats a bigger reason not to use a nuke .
I agree with Airbourne71. It was so called “experts” that got us into this mess in the first place. Plus, we don’t have a nuke package that small. Given the normal amount of time it take the .gov to do anything, it would be years before Livermore Labs in CA developed a bomb, unless we buy one from the Russians. And on the topic of the Russians, they used the nukes to blow out/fuse GAS well leaks on dry land. Nothing remotely like this, as far as I know.
The problem (as I read it) is that not only oil and gas are coming up. Dirt, rock, and other earth “innards” are being ejected also. In this case, these are highly abrasive. The case is being eaten away. They need the metal of the case to magnetically “steer” the relief drills to the proper spot. If the case is gone??? How will they ever find the hole? This is a very bad thing going on here.
A nuke will likely result in our first “Gulf Tsunami”… perfect metaphor for the financial one that is coming.
Why start with a nuke? I’ve heard that a large non-nuke directed down could work.  Couldn’t the blast generate enough power to crush the stone below it causing it to, more or less, “pinch” it off ?
“So we seal the leak, end up flooding New Orleans again, and collapse  Memphis and ST. Louis…”
OK, now what is the down side ?
I’ve heard this idea for the 10th time now since this shit started. Its foolish and completely unfounded. I wonder if people realize that the formation of oil-bearing rock lies about 18,000 ft below the sea floor. Any cracks in the floor leaking oil that I’ve seen don’t flow at any appreciable rate. I’m certainly not discounting the risks and the need for a solution, but this Matt Simmons character is a self-serving bastard. He’s shorting the hell out of BP and I don’t blame him for that. The thing is that when you go on television and make dire predictions with outrageous hype(with significant economic interest in decreasing stock value), you then have crossed the line and begun to enrich yourself at other’s expense. See this link before anyone hates on me.
http://beforeitsnews.com/news/80/851/Oil_Spill_Conflict_of_Interest:_Matt_Simmons_Is_Shorting_At_Least_8,000_BP_Shares.html
And for the record I live in Southeast Louisiana and have for my entire life. So I’m not talking shit about something, which I don’t have a significant interest in solving (correctly). I’ve fished in Venice, Grand Isle, Barataria Bay and dozens of other cuts, passes , bayous, bays, lakes, and beachs that are currently being affected. I’m certainly gonna miss fishing out there, especially considering my brother just bought a boat. Lake Pontchartrain still has some good fishing with lots of speckle trout and redfish. From what I’ve heard people seem to think that the fish are running up into the lake away from the coast because of the spill. That’s possibly a good thing, but who knows what’s really going on in this world.
Obviously the flow rate approximations have been bullshit all along. When they threw out that 5000 bbl/day flow rate on television, my dad couldn’t help, but to laugh at such a bald faced lie. But, I think most of us here have and do know better than to believe the Mainstream Propagandists.
I just found a good article about the cracks in the floor, thought you might be interested.
http://beforeitsnews.com/story/81/111/Cracks_Show_BP_Was_Battling_Gulf_Well_as_Early_as_February.html
I remember reading somewhere about how BP was pushing the drill crew to meet a tough deadline and that they had in turn ended up damaging a drill bit (uh oh$$$). So now being even farther behind (or at least according to the soft skinned and clean hands of management) they continued to push these guys further. If I remember correctly someone protested the fact that certain danger signs were being ignored and the individual either left the rig or demanded to leave. My dad has told me stories of working on rigs in west africa where seriously dangerous situations arise due to poor maintenance or simply cutting corners. Combine GREED,incompetence, nepotism (college degreed son-in-law who doesn’t know shit), apathy/low work morale, stupidity, corruption(our wonderfully bribed federal inspectors) and you’ve got a major fu#@up waiting to happen. Not to mention all the large liquidations of BP’s stock in the weeks and months preceding the accident, which should at least make one take an objective look at. Avoid jumping to conclusions, and that includes assumptions like, ” you don’t think anyone could do something like this on purpose do you???” as much as assuming that it was an accident (albeit one made considerably more likely by the corner cutting and continuous push for production, while ignoring safety by what often amount to pantywaist metrosexuals for management)
Good day now
This guy is out to lunch,he thinks that the “circumference” of the pipe is 21″(the diameter is 21″).
Also,he now says that “they can’t detect where the well bore was because,they can’t get to within three miles of it because there’s too much fire”…Huh?,the well bore is directly under the BOP which is where all the damned robots are hovering around!
What fires?
Is he implying that there are underwater fires preventing them from getting within 3 miles and finding the well?
I think he’s getting old and confused,but the media desperately needs an “expert” in the oil field to talk to them since all others won’t.
Just because someone sounds sincere doesn’t mean that he isn’t full of crap.
I want to be positive about what is going on with attempts to close off the leaks in the Gulf sea bed, but, using a nuke of any size with the kind of brains that we have in the government giving their okay puts me on the negitive side. I don’t remember the last time this govenment present or past has done something right in attempts to correct something, so it is the same here, what will go wrong, can and will go wrong and nuking is one of them.
Remember the last time the US decided to ‘use’ a nuke? It killed thousands of innocent women and children. That’s what will happen this time too, except it will include all of the able bodied men. When the people who have created this catastrophe are the ones in charge of fixing it, you know there will be nothing good that will come of this. Prepare yourselves, this is a false flag being used to further the control the Washington mobsters and their friends on Wall Street and corporate Amerika. Beans, bullets and band aids are going to be hard to come by soon, get yours now while you still can.
Comments…..I  would  just  like  to  know  ..   Is the  well  casing  seriously  compromised.   If  it  is,   does  this   make  the  relief  wells   useless.   Also  what about these   huge oil plumes  that supposedly couldn’t have come from just this one leak ?
Current estimation is that the oil they hit contains 2 BILLION gallons of oil! 2BILLION that could flow out if they just want to empty it. They better hurry up and fix it if not we could have a a major catastrophe that could destroy the Gulf and turn it into on big ass tar pit.
Usually I am in agreement with Matt Simmons. I belong to a professional society that he too is a member of. This time I disagree wholeheartedly with him. Sorry Matt. Bad idea. The explanation would take longer than the space I have available here to respond…
Who are Obama’s advisers, Laurel and Hardy? Same bungholes running the Fed and IMF I suspect. ÂÂ
A nuke device would not work as there is not enough energy in any nuke to fuse sand into glass under this much water. I estimate several of the worlds largest nukes would have to be set off exactly at the same time in order to do it.  BUT… The main problem is the blast crater would actually blow the hole completely open. Are they aware of the blast force?
If they try it, I hope they issue tsunami warnings first and prepare Obama with another “I Failed Because I am a Stupid Minority Welfare Entitlement Organizer” speech. Be ready for the entire oil resevoir to be released instantaneously.
Comments…..Nuking the oil well is one bad idea. Rumors are that methane mixed with uranium is leaking into the gulf. If the two wells that they are drilling right now fails, even a bomb wouldn’t fix the problems. Just what we need, more pollution in the Gulf.
I had always questioned from the beginning why BP did not attempt to close off the well head, but instead were trying it to siphone off the oil. This is another reason why they would not think of nuking the site to seal off the leak.
This is about scarcity, making your customers believe that the product they so desire is rare, soon running out, and then jack up the prices. BP discovered and tapped into a multi-billion dollar oil reservoir 35,000 feet down. They don’t want to lose the oil. Even if it costs them tens of millions of dollars cleaning up (probably partially) the surface spill to the coasts, it is pocket change for an ice cream cone in comparison.