Impossible BP

The LATimes reported:

The gushing BP oil well is a mystery still unfolding, and late last month, a team of scientists from the Energy Department discovered a new twist: Their sophisticated imaging equipment detected not one but two drill pipes, side by side, inside the wreckage of the well's blowout preventer on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

BP officials said it was impossible. The Deepwater Horizon rig, which drilled the well, used a single pipe, connected in segments, to bore 13,000 feet below the ocean floor. But when workers cut into the wreckage to install a containment cap this month, sure enough, they found two pipes.

The force of the blowout jammed the second pipe into the blowout preventer. This reinforces Matt Simmons assertion of a lack of well integrity. It explains why the top kill failed so miserably, despite encouraging theatrics for public consumption.

The question is how far down is the well compromised? We won't know until relief wells attempt their plug.