Relief Well Work at BP Oil Spill Site Threatened By Tropical Storm

Posted in BP British Petroleum,Deepwater Horizon,Environment,Gulf Coast,Louisiana Maritime News on July 21, 2010

Two relief wells are on track to be completed within two weeks, however, it is possible a tropical storm could disrupt the work at the BP oil spill site. This could mean no work on the relief wells for up to two weeks.

The Development Driller II has been drilling one of two relief wells at the Deepwater Horizon site.

A final piece of casing needs to be cemented in place at the bottom of the relief well before it can then drill into the damaged well. Once the casing is in place, engineers could begin the last drilling within five to seven days and then “kill” the well with mud and cement.

There is a 60% chance that a weather pattern currently over the island of Hispaniola will turn into a cyclone within the next 48 hours, the National Hurricane Center says. It is currently moving west-northwest.

A reconnaissance flight is to be flown on Thursday.

If the weather holds, a “static” kill – pumping mud into the top of the well through the new cap – could be done as an intermediate measure. BP and government experts are deciding whether this will take place.

The cap applied last Thursday stopped oil leaking from the well for the first time since the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on 20 April.

Adm Allen said BP and the government were still considering whether the well would be left shut or opened in the event that bad weather forced all the ships away from the site.

Source: BBC News