Beware Beware
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BP began the final preparations for permanently plugging its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico today, 105 days after the gusher put the future of one of the world's biggest oil companies – and an entire region – in jeopardy.
The well could be permanently sealed as early as tomorrow or Wednesday, BP's senior vice-president, Kent Wells, told a reporters' conference call.
He said engineers were conducting tests to check conditions in the well, before pumping in mud from the top in a procedure known as "static kill" to put in place a permanent seal. No new oil has entered the Gulf since 15 July, when BP put a temporary cap on top of the well.
But despite that reprieve, and the prospect of a permanent solution, there were growing fears in the Gulf that BP and the Obama adminstration were moving too quickly to declare the crisis is at an end.
"We are terrified that there is going to be this 'Mission Accomplished' moment," said Aaron Viles, campaign director of the Gulf Restoration Network, in a reference to George Bush's notorious declaration of victory in Iraq in May 2003. "There is a tremendous pressure to move on here, on all these under-resourced federal agencies and BP clearly also has an incentive."
The coastguard commander Thad Allen has said the administration was now recalibrating its response to the spill. Recent reports have suggested the environmental damage done by the spill, which poured 5m barrels of oil into the Gulf – has been exaggerated, or that the surface of the ocean was now free of oil.
"There are no magic elves. The oil is still there in large volumes. It is just dispersing and working its way through the ecosystem at each step of the process it is having an impact," Viles said.
He said his organisation flew over the spill at the weekend. "We saw significant amounts of oil, but there was no fleet mobilised to tackle that oil," he said.
If tomorrow's tests go to plan, BP will begin pumping heavy drilling mud into the well, from lines connected to a nearby ship, loaded with 2,000 barrels of drilling mud. Wells said the aim was to slowly force the oil back down into the reservoir by steadily pumping in the heavier mud.
"We'll just be slowing pumping the mud in initially and it will gradually build up pressure," he said. "We'll be carefully monitoring the pressures and the volumes. The team will be looking and making sure we do everything to get this well killed, if at all possible."
If all goes well, BP will then consider how best to pump cement into the relief well for a permanent seal – from the top, from the bottom, or both.
BP might consider abandoning work on two relief wells that had been designed to intercept the Macondo well close to the reservoir, Wells said. Work on the relief wells has been under way for months, and the most advanced is just 4ft away from the Macondo. But by BP's own estimates, engineers may not be ready to intercept the well for another week, deepening its exposure to the hurricane season.
"We want to end up with cement in the bottom of the hole," Wells said. "Whether that comes from the top or whether it comes from the relief well, those will be decisions made along the way."
The success of this week's operation will also be critical to President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats who are facing big losses in congressional elections in November. Since the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon, which killed 11 workers, the Obama administration has faced continued challenges to its claims to competence, with pictures of oil gushing from the ocean floor, or angry outbursts from governors of Gulf states whose economies have been hit hard by the spill.
The administration has also come under attack for sanctioning the use of huge quantities of chemical dispersants to break up the slick. Ed Markey, a Democrat congressman who has been leading investigations into the spill, likened the use of the chemicals to carpet bombing the Gulf.
However, the Environmental Protection Agency said tests showed the chemicals were no more toxic than oil.
What is static kill?
BP is set to begin plugging its runaway well in the Gulf of Mexico after a last set of pressure tests. An experimental cap has stopped the flow of any fresh oil into the Gulf since 15 July, but engineers want to monitor the pressure and volume of oil in the well as they begin a procedure BP is calling a "static kill".
Once engineers give the go-ahead, crews will begin slowly pumping heavy drilling mud into the top of the well from a nearby ship, the Blue Dolphin, through a line connected to the well's original blow-out preventer just below the cap. The mud would be pumped at low pressure and speed, as engineers hope to force the oil back down the well.
If all goes well, engineers would then begin pumping in cement down the same line through the top of the well to seal it off. BP will decide whether to continue work on a relief well that had been designed to pump mud and cement into the Macondo from the bottom.
BP began the final preparations for permanently plugging its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico today, 105 days after the gusher put the future of one of the world's biggest oil companies – and an entire region – in jeopardy.
The well could be permanently sealed as early as tomorrow or Wednesday, BP's senior vice-president, Kent Wells, told a reporters' conference call.
He said engineers were conducting tests to check conditions in the well, before pumping in mud from the top in a procedure known as "static kill" to put in place a permanent seal. No new oil has entered the Gulf since 15 July, when BP put a temporary cap on top of the well.
But despite that reprieve, and the prospect of a permanent solution, there were growing fears in the Gulf that BP and the Obama adminstration were moving too quickly to declare the crisis is at an end.
"We are terrified that there is going to be this 'Mission Accomplished' moment," said Aaron Viles, campaign director of the Gulf Restoration Network, in a reference to George Bush's notorious declaration of victory in Iraq in May 2003. "There is a tremendous pressure to move on here, on all these under-resourced federal agencies and BP clearly also has an incentive."
The coastguard commander Thad Allen has said the administration was now recalibrating its response to the spill. Recent reports have suggested the environmental damage done by the spill, which poured 5m barrels of oil into the Gulf – has been exaggerated, or that the surface of the ocean was now free of oil.
"There are no magic elves. The oil is still there in large volumes. It is just dispersing and working its way through the ecosystem at each step of the process it is having an impact," Viles said.
He said his organisation flew over the spill at the weekend. "We saw significant amounts of oil, but there was no fleet mobilised to tackle that oil," he said.
If tomorrow's tests go to plan, BP will begin pumping heavy drilling mud into the well, from lines connected to a nearby ship, loaded with 2,000 barrels of drilling mud. Wells said the aim was to slowly force the oil back down into the reservoir by steadily pumping in the heavier mud.
"We'll just be slowing pumping the mud in initially and it will gradually build up pressure," he said. "We'll be carefully monitoring the pressures and the volumes. The team will be looking and making sure we do everything to get this well killed, if at all possible."
If all goes well, BP will then consider how best to pump cement into the relief well for a permanent seal – from the top, from the bottom, or both.
BP might consider abandoning work on two relief wells that had been designed to intercept the Macondo well close to the reservoir, Wells said. Work on the relief wells has been under way for months, and the most advanced is just 4ft away from the Macondo. But by BP's own estimates, engineers may not be ready to intercept the well for another week, deepening its exposure to the hurricane season.
"We want to end up with cement in the bottom of the hole," Wells said. "Whether that comes from the top or whether it comes from the relief well, those will be decisions made along the way."
The success of this week's operation will also be critical to President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats who are facing big losses in congressional elections in November. Since the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon, which killed 11 workers, the Obama administration has faced continued challenges to its claims to competence, with pictures of oil gushing from the ocean floor, or angry outbursts from governors of Gulf states whose economies have been hit hard by the spill.
The administration has also come under attack for sanctioning the use of huge quantities of chemical dispersants to break up the slick. Ed Markey, a Democrat congressman who has been leading investigations into the spill, likened the use of the chemicals to carpet bombing the Gulf.
However, the Environmental Protection Agency said tests showed the chemicals were no more toxic than oil.
What is static kill?
BP is set to begin plugging its runaway well in the Gulf of Mexico after a last set of pressure tests. An experimental cap has stopped the flow of any fresh oil into the Gulf since 15 July, but engineers want to monitor the pressure and volume of oil in the well as they begin a procedure BP is calling a "static kill".
Once engineers give the go-ahead, crews will begin slowly pumping heavy drilling mud into the top of the well from a nearby ship, the Blue Dolphin, through a line connected to the well's original blow-out preventer just below the cap. The mud would be pumped at low pressure and speed, as engineers hope to force the oil back down the well.
If all goes well, engineers would then begin pumping in cement down the same line through the top of the well to seal it off. BP will decide whether to continue work on a relief well that had been designed to pump mud and cement into the Macondo from the bottom.