Okay, I'm posting to myself--will this bother anyone?
There is a "plugged" well site that was left behind by the Soviets at the Chikuduk structure. I have distilled several conversations I had today--yes, these are THIRD PARTY and should be considered only on those merits--into the following:
There is a real environmental problem here. Some serious leakage has occurred from the plugged well. The affected area is getting larger.
This is not just a few thousand gallons. This is a continuing problem and needs to be addressed. Oil really is bubbling up at this site.
The plug is preventing (even though it's a bad seal) much larger quantities from spilling out--well, that's what I was told. Is it true? I for one don't bet on things like this. This is a wait and see.
My own opinion of this info (others may form their own, of course):
1) Plugged wells do leak--it's not that uncommon. Plugged wells at non commercial flow rate sites also may leak oil. Oil might have been found, but flow was very poor and the oil leaking is merely residual in nature.
2) Non-commercial plugged wells that leak can over time cause environmental damage, but not to the degree that has been described.
It certainly seems to me (remember, this is purely IMO) that Chikuduk does contain oil. It may be possible that the Soviets left these sites for Tengiz due to its proximity to the Caspian and perceived better location in terms of getting this oil to the Soviet markets.
I did some searching to see if I could locate some decent geophysical mapping of this area. I found a web site for Tenzig, with some data, but mapping and analysis on other regions of Kasakhstan are available for a mere $50,000 US. I located these mappings on an industry consultant's web site. If anyone wants the address, please email me. I'm not going to provide any advertising for them. But I bet no one wants to ante up the $50,000! LOL! I wonder if any of this is part of the Soviet's data package which is going to be completely updated (improved upon) by Wavetech. Probably not--can't be, right Millennium/AIPN?
I also located a "calculator" in which you can input any of the sites/structures on the list and an estimate of daily flow rates--potential?--for that site will be given. I'm sure the "calculator" is using old data, but it is curious.
Oh screw the email, here are some sites of interest. Sorry about not providing the hyperlink, but I'm running OS2 Warp w/ Netscape Nav 2.02. Every time I try I end up with a mess. What's a guy to do when he can't even cut and paste? The sites of interest:
www2.csn.net/~rigibson/tengiz.html
www.csn.net/~rigibson/basnsrch.html
www.heritage.org/heritage/library/catagories/forpol/bg1065.html
If these addresses don't work, just give a yell and we'll sort it out.
Greg |
