Engineer: Liquid Nitrogen Key to Containing Gulf Coast Oil Spill

By Dave Jordan, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY --- A local petroleum engineer has an idea on how British Petroleum can contain the oil spill in the Gulf Coast.

The oil spill is gushing about 200,000 gallons a day and the leak has now reached the Mississippi Delta and islands just off the coast of Louisiana. British Petroleum hopes a 98 ton, four story concrete and steel dome can contain the leak but Jim Maguire said it's a lot easier than that.

Maguire said it all comes down to two words: liquid nitrogen. The 84-year-old independent petroleum engineer said it's a tried and true option that could be the key to stopping that oil leak.

"What I'll do is I'll just completely cover it with ice and no oil can ever come out as long as there's ice there," said Maguire.

Maguire said it would just require thousands of feet of flexible coiled tubing with plastic host and a piece of steel. Once the tubing is inserted near the site of the leak, liquid nitrogen will be pumped through, freezing the water around the site and building a barrier of ice.

"In my opinion, the oil will never come out. You've got enough ice there you can withstand the pressure," Maguire said.

But what about the oil that has already seeped out and inching closer to the shore? Maguire said he has a similar plan involving liquid nitrogen to freeze the water, creating a sort of ice blockade.

"As the water goes up, it'll keep getting bigger and it will completely stop that oil from going on shore," said the petroleum engineer.

This is not just a random hypothesis that hasn't been tested. For years, he has been using liquid nitrogen as part of energy exploration. He currently holds several patents where that technology is in use. But Maguire said it's very difficult, especially as an independent petroleum engineer, to convey those ideas to top execs at BP. That is what Maguire says he's been dealing with since this spill happened, and he's not having much success.

Maguire said he supports BP's decision to put a dome over the leak, but he's concerned as to whether the bottom of the dome could be properly sealed off.

BP hopes to start containing the oil flow inside the dome Thursday and on Saturday will begin pumping the oil to the surface and onto a barge.