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BOOTLICKER
BP says it has successfully pumped heavy drilling mud into its blown-out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico to create a "static condition," a major milestone in the company's efforts to permanently plug the well.
After several delays, the company started pumping mud into the well Tuesday, stopping after roughly eight hours.
The pressure in the well dropped quickly in the first 90 minutes of the static kill procedure, a sign that everything was going as planned, wellsite leader Bobby Bolton said.
"The well pressure is now being controlled by the hydrostatic pressure of the drilling mud, which is the desired outcome of the static kill procedure," BP said in a statement Wednesday.
BP spokeswoman Sheila Williams called the procedure a "milestone" and said it's a step toward killing the well, which started leaking after a deadly blast tore through an offshore drilling rig on April 20.
Teams are now monitoring the well to ensure it remains stable, BP said, and workers may or may not be required to inject more mud into the well at some point.
Relief well still needed
But the mud that was forced down the broken wellhead to plug the gusher is not the final step for BP. To call the mission a success, crews need to seal off the well from two directions.
BP said in a statement that a relief well remains "the ultimate solution to kill and permanently seal the well."
A relief well that BP has been drilling for the past three months will be used later this month to execute a "bottom kill," in which mud and cement will be injected into the bedrock below the sea floor to finish the job, retired U.S. Coast Guard admiral Thad Allen said.
"This thing won't truly be sealed until those relief wells are done," Allen said Tuesday.
Operations on the relief well were put on hold during the static kill process, BP said, but the company still aims to complete the first relief well by mid-August.
Oil in Gulf dissipating: White House adviser
Meanwhile, White House energy adviser Carol Browner said that a new assessment found that about 75 per cent of the oil has been captured, burned off, evaporated or broken down in the Gulf.
"It was captured. It was skimmed. It was burned. It was contained. Mother Nature did her part," Browner told NBC's Today show. On ABC's Good Morning America, she said about 25 per cent remained.
Scientific teams have estimated that the damaged well released roughly 4.9 million barrels of oil, although not all of the oil flowed into the Gulf.
"Containment activities conducted by BP under U.S. Direction captured approximately 800,000 barrels of oil prior to the capping of the well," U.S. spill response officials said in a statement.
BP placed a temporary containment cap on the well on July 15, temporarily stemming the flow of oil into the Gulf
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After several delays, the company started pumping mud into the well Tuesday, stopping after roughly eight hours.
The pressure in the well dropped quickly in the first 90 minutes of the static kill procedure, a sign that everything was going as planned, wellsite leader Bobby Bolton said.
"The well pressure is now being controlled by the hydrostatic pressure of the drilling mud, which is the desired outcome of the static kill procedure," BP said in a statement Wednesday.
BP spokeswoman Sheila Williams called the procedure a "milestone" and said it's a step toward killing the well, which started leaking after a deadly blast tore through an offshore drilling rig on April 20.
Teams are now monitoring the well to ensure it remains stable, BP said, and workers may or may not be required to inject more mud into the well at some point.
Relief well still needed
But the mud that was forced down the broken wellhead to plug the gusher is not the final step for BP. To call the mission a success, crews need to seal off the well from two directions.
BP said in a statement that a relief well remains "the ultimate solution to kill and permanently seal the well."
A relief well that BP has been drilling for the past three months will be used later this month to execute a "bottom kill," in which mud and cement will be injected into the bedrock below the sea floor to finish the job, retired U.S. Coast Guard admiral Thad Allen said.
"This thing won't truly be sealed until those relief wells are done," Allen said Tuesday.
Operations on the relief well were put on hold during the static kill process, BP said, but the company still aims to complete the first relief well by mid-August.
Oil in Gulf dissipating: White House adviser
Meanwhile, White House energy adviser Carol Browner said that a new assessment found that about 75 per cent of the oil has been captured, burned off, evaporated or broken down in the Gulf.
"It was captured. It was skimmed. It was burned. It was contained. Mother Nature did her part," Browner told NBC's Today show. On ABC's Good Morning America, she said about 25 per cent remained.
Scientific teams have estimated that the damaged well released roughly 4.9 million barrels of oil, although not all of the oil flowed into the Gulf.
"Containment activities conducted by BP under U.S. Direction captured approximately 800,000 barrels of oil prior to the capping of the well," U.S. spill response officials said in a statement.
BP placed a temporary containment cap on the well on July 15, temporarily stemming the flow of oil into the Gulf
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