Talk:Oil gusher

A fact from Oil gusher appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 5 August 2006. The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that the era of the oil gusher (pictured) came to an end with the development of the first blowout preventer in 1924?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2006/August.

Wikipedia

Caps?

How did they cap an oil gusher?

I was wondering that too. Or did they just have to wait until enough oil came out to relieve the pressure? --OpenToppedBus - Talk to the driver 11:09, 11 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

In the old days as I understand it they pretty much left it until it was manageable, but nowadays they have special machines to cap it while it's flowing. Quite often they catch on fire and are dealt with by companies similar to the one started by Red Adair. TastyCakes (talk) 16:01, 18 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What was said above is not correct. They had to try and fit a valve over teh gushing end. Read this article http://www.wtblock.com/wtblockjr/harnessi.htm —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.161.88.132 (talk) 02:35, 21 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Move to Blowout (oil well)?

I would leave it as an article of its own, simply because the very word "gusher" is so familiar in oil field lore and in the public's common vernacular. Perhaps a reference to Blowout (well drilling) should appear closer to the top of the page. And the second section (The Cause of gushers -- starting with plankton on the ocean floor!) could be eliminated entirely but if the basic info not already there it should be incorporated in the main Blowout article. Irv (talk) 18:10, 25 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I see why you're suggesting this -- "blowouts" and "gushers" are essentially the same thing. However, the articles are in truth about very different subjects -- blowout is about the technical aspects of blowouts, oil gusher about the historical aspects. There isn't much redundancy between the two articles, and to do a good job of merging them would take a lot of rewriting -- blowout is very technical in its tone; this article, very familiar.

Perhaps the best thing we could do is to tighten the integration between them; put a summary paragraph in blowout covering "historical aspects", and linking to here, and a paragraph on "technical aspects" here linking to blowout.--Father Goose (talk) 20:45, 25 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Incidentally, I added a paragraph to the lede which ties this article much more closely to blowout (well drilling) now.--Father Goose (talk) 21:13, 25 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

BP Oil Spill

The 2010 BP Oil Spill is not a "gusher" in the traditional sense (no more so than hundreds of other blowouts in the last 80 years or so). If no serious objections raised here in the next 24 hours I plan to revert this addition. Casey (talk) 22:03, 11 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I removed all mention of the 2010 BP Oil Spill from this "historical" page, and put reference to modern era blowouts in the lede. (The BP spill has its own page, and any other details -- perhaps just a link -- should go on the Blowout (well drilling) page. Casey (talk) 02:15, 13 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Once again I reverted additions of a modern blowout made most recently by User 72.66.216.73. The BP spill is neither a gusher in the historical sense (as covered in this Wiki page) nor in any other sense using the common definition of oil blowing over a derrick. Properly, no other modern-era blowouts have been covered on this page, and the current BP well should not be either. This is being covered quite extensively on its own page, and any reference from a Wiki page dedicated to uncontrolled wells should be made from Blowout (well drilling). Casey (talk) 20:49, 14 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]