re: #328 freetoken

This whole thing is turning into a textbook example of why flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants isn’t a good replacement for thoughtful engineering.

Spot on. We should also recognise that they are engineering and constructing things to try that would take six months or more under normal circumstances. The effort is heroic and fascinating, but they are up against pressure that they simply can not overcome at this depth.

There is no tricksy solution to a high pressure reservoir of Gas and Oil flowing freely up a leaky formation 18,000 feet. They need a heavier column pressing down, period. We know if the well was full of mud it will be held back, as it was before BP brilliantly displaced that with water. But the formation or bottom plug may have experienced more damage, so the relief well is no picnic either.