BP nevertheless must finish their relief well

A relief well must be completed that will seal the ruptured well that was the source of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP had suggested that the relief well could be used to pump oil, given that the static kill which stopped the leak last month is holding fast. 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 on the well, he confirmed Friday that the bottom kill from the relief well would proceed as planned.

Finished relief well the only option

In recent days BP refused to commit to pumping cement down the relief well for the bottom kill, saying only that it could be put to use one way or another. The New York Times reports that to confirm that pumping heavy mud and cement into 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. Thad Allen said that as outlined by BP estimates, about 1,000 barrels of oil remains trapped in the well. Until the gusher is permanently plugged, the government said work on the relief well will continue.

Static kill – no guarantees

When the static kill was complete, BP engineers were assured that cement had plugged the metal casing pipe in the well. They didn’t know, however, if cement had successfully blocked the annulus, a space between the pipe and the well bore. The Los Angeles Times reports that the leak seems to be entirely sealed by mud and cement poured through the top of the well, as outlined by the tests. Allen said the relief well needed to be the final step because it could not be guaranteed that the static kill would close all the possible paths for oil to leak from the well.

Relief well threading the needle

Drilling of the first relief well started in early May. The Associated Press reports that in a few months the drill has travelled about three miles from the surface and two miles under the ocean floor to come within just 30 to 50 feet of the Macondo well. The drill is about as wide as a grapefruit, its target less than half the size of a dartboard. It’s yet unclear when it could possibly be finished.

Additional reading

New York Times

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Los Angeles Times

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Associated Press

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