Still Sealed

BP Nevertheless Must Finish Their Relief Well

A relief well being drilled to add a second seal to the broken BP well that caused the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico must be completed. BP had raised the idea that the static kill which stanched the oil leak in July may be an adequate permanent solution and the relief well might be used to pump oil. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the Obama administration’s director of the oil spill response, suggested earlier that the “bottom kill” from the relief well may not be necessary. After pressure tests were conducted on the well, he confirmed Friday that BP must follow through on the bottom kill from the relief well. Article resource – Static kill plugged gusher, but BP ordered to finish relief well by Personal Money Store.

Allen: no bottom kill not an option

Over the last week BP vacillated on its commitment to pump cement through the relief well for the bottom kill. The New York Times reports that to confirm that pumping heavy mud and cement to the Macondo well plugged the leak, BP and government scientists performed test on the well. The tests appear to show that the static kill fully sealed the well. About 1,000 barrels of oil is still trapped in the well according to BP estimates, Allen said. The government said work on the relief well will continue until the gusher is permanently plugged.

Static kill unknowns

BP engineers could confirm that cement plugged the well’s metal casing pipe during the static kill. Nevertheless, it couldn’t be determined for certain whether the cement had reached the annulus–the space separating the pipe from the well bore. According to the tests, The Los Angeles Times reports that tests show the leak totally sealed by the mud and cement pumped through the well’s blowout preventer. Because it is uncertain the static kill has closed all the possible paths for the leak, Allen said the relief well must be the final step.

Relief well threading the needle

The first relief well commenced drilling in early May. The Associated Press reports that since then, the drill has been guided some three miles from the surface and two miles beneath the sea floor to within 30 to 50 feet of the target. The target is less than half the diameter of a dartboard, pursued by a drill about as wide as a grapefruit. When it is finally finished is not yet clear.

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New York Times

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Los Angeles Times

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Associated Press

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Record Collection – Still sealed Vinyl