"BP's Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill at TOD Overview"-Many Technical Details on Blowout and Capping, etc.

Instead of flooding the list with links, here's the story list of our coverage so far...two of these are "tech talks," one is by an old oil driller. Links below the titles.

Introduction to our coverage: http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6424

Where you would find this story list:

4. Progress on the Gulf oil leak and comments on cementing and well completion by Heading Out (Dave Summers) - May 3
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6427

Background technical information on cementing pipes and well completion, plus discussion of how these seem to be an issue in the Deepwater Horizon blowout.

3. Tech Talk: Revisiting Oil Well Pressures and Blowout Preventers after BP's Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill by Heading Out (Dave Summers) - May 2
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6421

Post by a recently retired university professor, describing some of the "ins" and "outs" of oil well pressure and blowout preventers. In the second half of the post, Heading Out talks about how this relates to some recent questions that have been raised with respect to how the current blowout took place, and what can be done to stop the leaking.

2. BP's Thunder Horse to Under-Perform in the Wake of the Deepwater Horizon Blowout? -Guest post by Seismobob (Glenn Morton) - April 30
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6415

One question of interest is, "If we do all this deepwater drilling, is it really possible to get a reasonable quantity of oil out?" Hopefully, we will be able to run a number of posts trying to examine this question. The April 30 post was the first such post. Based on the analysis Seismobob did, it appears that at least in this example, production is not going nearly as well as planned--suggesting that deepwater oil reserves may be overstated, and costs of production may be much higher than oil companies have planned on.

1. The Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Some Background and What It Means by Gail the Actuary (Gail Tverberg) - April 28
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6407

Excerpt: It seems to me that the great depth and attendant pressures, and the learning curve that goes working within these new parameters, probably contributed to the initial leak, and is contributing to the difficulties that are now occurring in stopping the leak. This particular well was not an important one--one source said it had economic importance only because of its proximity to a platform which was already in the area. The issues are more the possible environmental damage and the political fallout that could come from the accident. Unfortunately, most of the "easy oil" is gone. The oil that remains all has some challenges--but the fact of the matter is that the world economy cannot run without oil. So there are no easy answers.

( not that I think they should pollute any waters, of course).

And because they are international, are they as liable to USA?

As usual, the comments fill in the blanks.