Is the BP Oil Spill Worse Than We Know?

Neither the government nor BP are saying but anonymous sources are claiming that the well casing is ruptured and erosion is enlarging the borehole. Not good! More here and here.

The Macondo prospect could hold 2.5 to 10B barrels of oil and natural gas that wants to escape to the earth's surface. The gas is sandblasting the well casing and the wellbore every second of every day. Both casing and hole will erode, then fail, releasing more gas and oil at even higher flow rates. This suggests an eventual collapse of the seafloor near the hole and the discharge of most of the gas/oil reservoir.

Transocean is racing to drill two 13,000 feet relief wells to intercept the failed well 12,000 feet below the seafloor. They hope to plug the failed well below the ruptured casing and stop the spill. It will take 2 months to complete the relief wells unless hurricanes delay the effort. Many experts think chances of plugging this monster are slim to none.

So what happens if they fail? There are 5 billion drops of water for every drop of oil in the reservoir. It doesn't seem like much but the oil tends to aggregate and chokes off life. The loss of wildlife is a disaster but high doses of oil and gas fumes are toxic to humans as well. The Gulf coast could possibly be evacuated or even abandoned as a health hazard. Imagine a Gulf coast without tourism, fishing or oil industries and the cost of relocating millions of americans from a toxic Gulf. Unimaginable!