US Government: BP Must Find Best Method, Go Forward With Gulf-Leak Relief Well
August 13 2010 - 3:51PM
Dow Jones News
BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) must go forward with a final operation using
a relief well to permanently seal the Gulf of Mexico oil leak, but
engineers need more time to decide the best way to proceed, the top
federal official overseeing oil-spill recovery said Friday.
"Everybody is in agreement we need to proceed with the relief
well; the questions is how to do that," said Ret. Coast Guard Adm.
Thad Allen, in a teleconference. He said he held meetings Friday
with U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Energy Secretary Steven
Chu and incoming BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley to discuss the best
course of action.
Thursday, BP conducted a pressure test on the Macondo well a
mile deep in the Gulf to analyze whether to proceed with a "bottom
kill" operation, whereby drilling mud and cement will be pumped
through a relief well into the ruptured well from below. The tests
confirmed the well is practically sealed after the cement was
pumped down through the well head last week, Allen said, though the
strength of the seal was unclear. Scientists are trying to
determine how best to resume relief-well drilling without damaging
the cement, he added.
"We need to understand the implications of pumping mud and
cement...to kill from the bottom, and the implications of potential
damage," Allen said.
BP and the government are considering several options to reduce
the risks of the bottom-kill operation and to help preserve
important pieces of evidence, Allen said.
Several investigations are underway into the late April
explosion and sinking of Transocean Ltd.'s (RIG) Deepwater Horizon
rig, which unleashed the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S.
history. No oil has escaped from the broken well since a cap was
placed on it in mid-July.
Allen was unable to specify when preparations for the bottom
kill would resume. BP had expected to intersect the ruptured well
sometime early next week with the nearly 18,000-foot-deep relief
well. The relief well has long been considered the final fix to the
leak, even after BP effectively sealed the well with cement last
week.
-By Isabel Ordonez, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9207;
isabel.ordonez@dowjones.com
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