Unchecked Oil Flow Would Cause Disaster ‘Heretofore Unseen by Humanity’

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/05/26-7

If BP fails to plug its ruptured offshore oil well, intense underground pressure would be enough to pump vast quantities of thick brown crude into the Gulf of Mexico for months, even years.

If even BP's backup plans fail, it would cause a pollution disaster "heretofore unseen by humanity," said one expert.

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David Rensink, the incoming president of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, similarly said that BP's Macondo prospect likely contains enough oil to keep flowing from the broken undersea well for a very long time.

"It would take years to deplete. You are talking about a reservoir that could have tens of millions of barrels of oil in it," he said in a statement provided by the group.

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Wouldn't that eventually stop it if Top Kill fails? Only problem is drilling it will take several months...

it can take several tries to successfully intersect the well pipe. And they have to intersect the pipe right above the reservoir.

The recent spill in Australia took five tries. BP is currently drilling two wells and it will probably take until August to begin the permanent seal.

Top Kill is a temporary solution to stop the flow in the meantime.

Relief Well would have been a required procedure BEFORE any other drilling took place.