Catillina
6th August 2010, 21:15
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/08/bp-oil-spill-gulf-1/1
BP may drill again in oil spill reservoir
BP may drill again in the same undersea oil reservoir that spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, a company official said Friday.
"There's lots of oil and gas here," Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles told reporters during a news briefing. "We're going to have to think about what to do with that at some point."
http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanager/_photos/green-house/2010/08/06/spillx-inset-community.jpg (http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanager/_photos/green-house/2010/08/06/spillx-large.jpg)With its runaway well in the Gulf of Mexico finally plugged with cement, BP turned on Friday to a relief well to make sure that the source of the United States' worst environmental disaster is killed for good.
CAPTION (javascript:void(0))
AFP/Getty Images
Retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said he had no information on BP's future plans. "I would assume that's a policy related issue related to the management of the lease," Allen told reporters during a news briefing. "Frankly, it hasn't been raised to my level at this point. I'm not sure I can comment on it."Suttles confirmed that the company plans to use a relief well to push mud and then cement into the underground reservoir, a day after the company finished plugging the well with cement from the top. Engineers are now monitoring the cement and aim to do a pressure test to make sure the well is sealed.
"All the indications so far look very encouraging," Suttles said.
BP also announced Friday that Suttles is returning to his role as chief operating officer in Houston and Mike Utsler will replace him as lead representative in the Unified Area Command in New Orleans.
The energy giant began the "static kill" at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday, and workers stopped pumping mud about eight hours after the effort achieved its "desired outcome."
A federal science report released this week indicated about three-quarters of the oil from the BP spill is gone. The report says most of the oil has been captured, skimmed or dispersed naturally or by chemicals, and that about 26% of the oil spill is unaccounted for. But some scientists question the accuracy of the report.
"There's essentially no skimmable oil left on the surface, no recoverable oil left on the surface," Suttles said.
It could take at least five to seven days after the cement cures to finish the last part of the 18,000-foot relief well BP has been drilling for the past three months, Allen said.
Allen, who leads the U.S. oil spill response, said he would not declare the well dead until the relief well is finished and engineers have cemented it from the bottom.
"This is not the end," Allen said Thursday. "But it will virtually assure us there is no oil leaking into the environment."
U.S. estimates released late Monday say the Gulf spill is the world's largest accidental release of oil ever into marine waters. Federal scientists announced that BP's well released 205.8 million gallons of oil (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/08/scientists-gulf-spill-largest-ever/1) into the Gulf of Mexico before it was capped on July 15.
BP wants more blood:rolleyes:
BP may drill again in oil spill reservoir
BP may drill again in the same undersea oil reservoir that spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, a company official said Friday.
"There's lots of oil and gas here," Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles told reporters during a news briefing. "We're going to have to think about what to do with that at some point."
http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanager/_photos/green-house/2010/08/06/spillx-inset-community.jpg (http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanager/_photos/green-house/2010/08/06/spillx-large.jpg)With its runaway well in the Gulf of Mexico finally plugged with cement, BP turned on Friday to a relief well to make sure that the source of the United States' worst environmental disaster is killed for good.
CAPTION (javascript:void(0))
AFP/Getty Images
Retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said he had no information on BP's future plans. "I would assume that's a policy related issue related to the management of the lease," Allen told reporters during a news briefing. "Frankly, it hasn't been raised to my level at this point. I'm not sure I can comment on it."Suttles confirmed that the company plans to use a relief well to push mud and then cement into the underground reservoir, a day after the company finished plugging the well with cement from the top. Engineers are now monitoring the cement and aim to do a pressure test to make sure the well is sealed.
"All the indications so far look very encouraging," Suttles said.
BP also announced Friday that Suttles is returning to his role as chief operating officer in Houston and Mike Utsler will replace him as lead representative in the Unified Area Command in New Orleans.
The energy giant began the "static kill" at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday, and workers stopped pumping mud about eight hours after the effort achieved its "desired outcome."
A federal science report released this week indicated about three-quarters of the oil from the BP spill is gone. The report says most of the oil has been captured, skimmed or dispersed naturally or by chemicals, and that about 26% of the oil spill is unaccounted for. But some scientists question the accuracy of the report.
"There's essentially no skimmable oil left on the surface, no recoverable oil left on the surface," Suttles said.
It could take at least five to seven days after the cement cures to finish the last part of the 18,000-foot relief well BP has been drilling for the past three months, Allen said.
Allen, who leads the U.S. oil spill response, said he would not declare the well dead until the relief well is finished and engineers have cemented it from the bottom.
"This is not the end," Allen said Thursday. "But it will virtually assure us there is no oil leaking into the environment."
U.S. estimates released late Monday say the Gulf spill is the world's largest accidental release of oil ever into marine waters. Federal scientists announced that BP's well released 205.8 million gallons of oil (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/08/scientists-gulf-spill-largest-ever/1) into the Gulf of Mexico before it was capped on July 15.
BP wants more blood:rolleyes: