I seem to remember that a bubble of methane got into the pipe and, as it came up toward the surface it made contact with other substances. The methane bubble increased in size as it came up and found an ignition source which caused the explosion. I don't know how a natural occurring gas like methane can be contained; if it could there wouldn't be so many deadly coal mine explosions.
Having been born and raised in a county that has many producing oil wells, I have seen them in all phases of drilling, pumping, and refining. Oil is not like water. When a water well is drilled the water just pours or is pumped out and that's all. On the other hand, oil is high density and is not a singular substance. Some oil pools have so much pressure that it will blow more than 100 ft. into the air when the oil is tapped. One rig that my brother-in-law was working on had the upper platform blown off the derrick when they tapped oil.
There are 6 oil wells and one small refinery within a mile and a half of my house in AL. On foggy mornings the smell of oil, sulphur, and natural gas hangs heavily in the air. Nobody complains because they are accustomed to it and it is not constant. It's like living in a city where there is a papermill; there is a distinct odor that lets you know a papermill is nearby.
I don't agree with the slack way BP is handling the crisis but I am not smart enough to develop a fix for the problem. I do know that blowing up the wellhead would only make matters worse. BP is offering some lucrative contracts to professionals but who knows if the people will ever get paid? I believe the contractors and environmentalists will have to go into litigation to get paid and that could take decades. Cleanup people are being paid $12 per hour and most of them receive no benefits.
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