Norman engineer has own idea about how to stop Gulf oil leak

Henry Crichlow seems to be having a hard time getting anyone in the Gulf of Mexico to listen to him.

Crichlow, the former head of the departments of petroleum, natural gas and geological engineering at the University of Oklahoma, has more than 40 years of industry experience.

Crichlow, who now works as a consultant, insists there is a relatively simple way to plug the leak flooding the Gulf with oil since a drilling rig exploded last month and sank.

Crews should use shaped explosive charges to cut the riser about 20 feet above the wellhead, Crichlow said. That will give workers a clean stub, to which they can attach an adapter that can be used to choke off the flow of oil as much as possible.

"You can make this thing work,” he said.

No reply from BP

Crichlow submitted his idea to BP, the company responsible for the well, but he hasn’t gotten anything beyond an electronic verification his submission was received.

Deepwater Horizon Unified Command, the combined site of the companies involved in the cleanup, accepts submissions online on how to stop the flow of oil, recover it or clean it up.

"All proposals are reviewed for technical feasibility and application. Given the volume of proposals, this may take some time,” according to the website. "A reply will be sent via e-mail or fax to each caller informing them of the technical review outcome.”

Crichlow said he did not fill out the forms online, but he has sent his solution to as many people as possible, drawing on a lifetime’s worth of contacts in the oil and gas industry.

He said crews working in the Gulf seem to be attacking the problem the wrong way, based on what’s been reported.

"They’re nibbling at the fringe of the problem,” Crichlow said.

Multiple leaks

News reports indicate there are at least three leaks in the undersea well, but crews only seem to be fighting one of them, Crichlow said.

He said his solution has been tested repeatedly in Kuwait, where he developed contingency and blowout plans in 1991.

Dealing with more than 700 burning wells taught Crichlow a lot that could be applied in the Gulf.

"It is actually easier to do undersea,” he said.

Crichlow also did some calculations on the flow of oil from the underwater well, concluding about 26,000 barrels a day was spewing from the site.

That is much lower than the 75,000 barrels a day that has been estimated by BP officials.