Originally Posted by
geo_cajun
_ While it is physically possible, it would be financially prohibitive. The average land well costs about 1 million dollars to drill. That price is exponentially greater offshore, depending on depth. On some you might be talking 1 million dollars a day. Generally, the oil industry is very safe and these relief well would never be needed. This accident is very serious and tragic, but not a industry wide epidemic. Over the history of the oil industry, for ever million barrels produced, 30 barrels have leaked into the ocean. That is 0.003%. Most of the hydrocarbon pollution in the oceans is naturally occurring, and another large portion comes from runoff from the roads. Also by drilling two wells, you have doubled you chances of something going wrong (blowout). And when you say "before the work begins" I assume you mean converting the well from exploration to production, because the exploration part is really the "work", when you produce you use that natural pressure to produce the hydrocarbons to the surface. _