Offshore Oil Drilling and the Oil Rig Disaster in the Gulf

[BridgeTroll]

Is the state getting a cut?  Surely we dont want to scare tax paying businesses out of florida?

[Ocklawaha]

Los Angeles and Long Beach have lived with them forever and it hasn't wrecked their tourism industry. The way they made them decorate the rigs to look like mini-Gilligans Islands might even have Helped the tourism. Some are pretty darn flashy to look at in the evening. Remember they get tropical storms, and earthquakes and could even get volcanic activity. The only down side is floating tar bubbles, but I don't think they come from the rigs, rather it seeps from the sea floor. The beaches all have little "Tar Wipe" stations.

OCKLAWAHA

[stjr]

Charlie Crist is becoming a first class gigolo.  He is selling out on everything lately - oil drilling, home owners insurance and Citizens, property tax cuts to further raise the State's deficit, budget mismanagement, raider of reserve funds, casinos for the Indians, destruction of public education ...

He blows ... in whatever direction the wind does!     To think he wants to be a senator! Ouch.

[Ocklawaha]

Look at the bright side stjr, at LEAST we'd get Crist out of Tallahassee.

OCKLAWAHA

[fsu813]

The bill will not come for a vote until at least Monday. It is only on Special Order calendar for tomorrow.

[jaxnative]

I listened to a radio interview with one of the JEA managing officials.  He said plans were in the works for a solar project somewhere on the Westside I believe.  It would take over a hundred acres, power about 2400 homes, and cost four(4) times as much than standard energy production.  When askes why build it he replied, "Because of federal pressure and regulations."

I've e-mailed my representatives to vote for us to do our part in decreasing our energy dependence by drilling for oil in the most promising locations available.

[samiam]

State waters are 0 to 3 miles off shore, federal waters are 3 to 12 miles off shore, the exclusive economic zone is 12 to 200 mile off shore  

[samiam]

The rigs off mobile alabama are great places to fish, I caught a 35 pound red fish next to one of them. OH WHAT A FIGHT!!!

[ChriswUfGator]

The beaches all have little "Tar Wipe" stations.

OCKLAWAHA

Great...just what we need...

[heights unknown]

If they drilled off of Jacksonville's Beaches and found a huge swath of oil, wouldn't that mean more jobs and increased prosperity for the Jacksonville/St. Augustine area?  We would also have an influx of fortune 500 companies (possibly) and our port would swell with increased activity (yes?).

Heights Unknown

[Ocklawaha]

The beaches all have little "Tar Wipe" stations.



OCKLAWAHA

Great...just what we need...

[stjr]

Look at the bright side stjr, at LEAST we'd get Crist out of Tallahassee.

Ock, that's what my Maryland relatives said when Nixon picked Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew to be vice-president!  And, thank god, he was indicted and resigned as VP.  Or, he would have been president when Nixon resigned!  A very close call for the country!

[lindab]

Florida 3 mile limit is extended on west coast to 3 leagues, little more than 10 miles.

[stjr]

If they drilled off of Jacksonville's Beaches and found a huge swath of oil, wouldn't that mean more jobs and increased prosperity for the Jacksonville/St. Augustine area?  We would also have an influx of fortune 500 companies (possibly) and our port would swell with increased activity (yes?).

Heights Unknown

Heights, most, if not all, domestic oil flows through pipelines in the U.S. from my understandings. Tankers would be for export which I wouldn't see happening if we are importers already.

As to Fortune 500, I see no connection.  Why would they want to "live" next to an oil well?  The big oils are mostly HQ'd in Houston or New York as I recall.  And, I don't see them moving.  NY doesn't have oil wells so that isn't even a criteria for an oil company's location apparently.  If we are unlucky, we will attract environmental clean up firms and if we are lucky we will get a nice pump station for the pipeline.

One issue that is sure to follow this, if approved, is the location onshore of the pipeline pathway and its distribution facilities.  Who is volunteering to have this mega pipe run down their street?

Also, I am still trying to figure why the wells have to be within sight of the shore line?  How can this be good regardless of your position?  By the way, I say find a way to get us off oil because it isn't going to last forever "no-hows".

[stjr]

From http://www.pipeline101.com/Overview/crude-pl.html :

The network of crude oil pipelines in the U.S. is extensive. There are approximately 55,000 miles of crude oil trunk lines (usually 8 - 24 inches in diameter) in the U.S. that connect regional markets. The map below shows some of the major crude oil trunk lines in the U.S.:

From Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipeline_transport ):

...pipelines are generally the most economical way to transport large quantities of oil or natural gas over land. Compared to railroad, they have lower cost per unit and higher capacity. Although pipelines can be built under the sea, that process is economically and technically demanding, so the majority of oil at sea is transported by tanker ships.

Oil pipelines are made from steel or plastic tubes with inner diameter typically from 10 to 120 cm (about 4 to 48 inches). Most pipelines are buried at a typical depth of about 1 - 2 metres (about 3 to 6 feet). The oil is kept in motion by pump stations along the pipeline, and usually flows at speed of about 1 to 6 m/s. Multi-product pipelines are used to transport two or more different products in sequence in the same pipeline. Usually in multi-product pipelines there is no physical separation between the different products. Some mixing of adjacent products occurs, producing interface. This interface is removed from the pipeline at receiving facilities and segregated to prevent contamination.

Crude oil contains varying amounts of wax, or paraffin, and in colder climates wax buildup may occur within a pipeline. Often these pipelines are inspected and cleaned using pipeline inspection gauges pigs, also known as, scrapers or Go-devils. [1] These devices are launched from pig-launcher stations and travel through the pipeline to be received at any other station down-stream, cleaning wax deposits and material that may have accumulated inside the line.

...Components
Pipeline networks are composed of several pieces of equipment that operate together to move products from location to location. The main elements of a pipeline system are:

A pipeline schematic.- Initial Injection Station - Known also as Supply or Inlet station, is the beginning of the system, where the product is injected into the line. Storage facilities, pumps or compressors are usually located at these locations.

- Compressor/Pump Stations - Pumps for liquid pipelines and Compressors for gas pipelines, are located along the line to move the product through the pipeline. The location of these stations is defined by the topography of the terrain, the type of product being transported, or operational conditions of the network.

- Partial Delivery Station - Known also as Intermediate Stations, these facilities allow the pipeline operator to deliver part of the product being transported.

- Block Valve Station - These are the first line of protection for pipelines. With these valves the operator can isolate any segment of the line for maintenance work or isolate a rupture or leak. Block valve stations are usually located every 20 to 30 miles (48 km), depending on the type of pipeline. Even though it is not a design rule, it is a very usual practice in liquid pipelines. The location of these stations depends exclusively on the nature of the product being transported, the trajectory of the pipeline and/or the operational conditions of the line.

- Regulator Station - This is a special type of valve station, where the operator can release some of the pressure from the line. Regulators are usually located at the downhill side of a peak.

- Final Delivery Station - Known also as Outlet stations or Terminals, this is where the product will be distributed to the consumer. It could be a tank terminal for liquid pipelines or a connection to a distribution network for gas pipelines.


Leak detection systems
Since oil and gas pipelines are an important asset of the economic development of almost any country, it has been required either by government regulations or internal policies to ensure the safety of the assets, and the population and environment where these pipelines run.

Pipeline companies face government regulation, environmental constraints and social situations. Pipeline companies should comply with government regulations which may define minimum staff to run the operation, operator training requirements, up to specifics including pipeline facilities, technology and applications required to ensure operational safety. As an example, in the State of Washington, it is mandatory for pipeline operators to be able to detect and locate leaks of 8 percent of maximum flow within 15 minutes or less.

The social situation also affects the operation of pipelines. In third world countries, product theft is a problem for pipeline companies. It is common to find unauthorized extractions in the middle of the pipeline. In this case, the detection levels should be under 2 percent of maximum flow, with a high expectation for location accuracy.

Different types of technologies and strategies have been implemented, from physically walking the lines to satellite surveillance. The most common technology to protect these lines from occasional leaks is known as Computational Pipeline Monitoring Systems or CPM. CPM takes information from the field related to pressures, flows, and temperatures to estimate the hydraulic behavior of the product being transported. Once the estimation is done, the results are compared to other field references to detect the presence of an anomaly or unexpected situation, which may be related to a leak.

...As targets
Pipelines can be the target of vandalism, sabotage, or even terrorist attacks. In war, pipelines are often the target of military attacks, as destruction of pipelines can seriously disrupt enemy logistics.