Gulf oil catastrophe critical

File: 011696_92_4_001.txt
Page: 001
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             AREA:BIONEWS
             10:11 PM Aug 16, 1991
             Source: Peacenet
             (Fido:250/222) igc:cjuardian
             Conf:mideast.cjulf
             Gulf oil catastrophe critical
             peg.guardian                         August 16, 1991
             Author: Joe Vialls*

             if the 50 drilling rigs desperately needed to drill relief wells
             are not moved into Kuwait and southern Iraq immediately, huge oil
             lakes forming across the area might eventually block access,
             cutting off forever the only known method of killing the 300
             rogue high-pressure, high volume wells currently generating most
             of the six million barrels a day pollution.

             The co=non belief that firefighters in Kuwait are doing a good
             job is, sadly, incorrect. So far the 150-200 blowouts controlled
             by their 40-year-old techniques have all been low-pressure. By
             early July, not a single high-pressure blowout had been killed.

             During March, Kuwaiti oil officials confirmed that the worst 300
             high-pressure blowouts could only be controlled by directionally
             drilled relief wells, which kill the blowouts at source several
             thousand feet underground, rather than at surface level.

             In simple terms a directional drilling rig is located about 1,000
             yards away from a blowout, starts drilling vertically and then
             "kicks off" into a drilling curve towards the base of the blowing
             well which, in Kuwait, might be as deep as 10,000 feet.

             When the directional well intercepts the base of the burning
             well, heavy drilling fluid or cement is pumped through to kill
             the oil pressure, which in turn kills the surface fire
             automatically.

             Because the rig is drilling by "remote control" there is no risk
the fires, oil or gas from
             the blowout itself.

             The critical Kuwaiti statement was ignored by the firefighters,
             Bechtel and also the US administration. By early August all hi-
             tech directional experts capable of handling the high-pressure
             wells were still denied access-to Kuwait.

             Directional relief well drilling is a proved  procedure that
             requires skills the firefighters do not have. it is not
             surprising that the firefighters have failed to highlight the
             requirements, as most are earning $2,000 per day whether they
             kill wells or not, hardly an incentive to have themselves
             replaced by more efficient personnel and equipment.

             By June 30, four months after initial burn, only one drilling rig
             had been delivered to Kuwait, with another seven on standby or in
             transit internat 'ionally. With an average drilling time of 50-90
             days per relief well per rig, the minimum time to complete the
             operation will be almost five years.
Box ID = BX000000
Unit = CONST ENG LABS  
Parent Organization = ;CORPS OF ENGS  
Folder Title = SMITH PAPERS POST GULF WAR RECOVERY                                                             
Subject = Gulf oil catastrophe critical
Document Number =         92
Image file name = 00000021.tif