Washington, 30 July (Argus) — BP's “static kill” operation aimed at plugging with mud its Macondo well from its top will start at least a day later than scheduled because of additional work that needs to be done on one of the two relief wells thousands of feet below the floor of the Gulf, the US government said today.
BP must clear out debris in the relief well that is furthest along and scheduled to intercept Macondo in the coming days, after sediment from its walls collapsed because of the passage of tropical storm Bonnie, which caused BP to take evasive action at the site, US national incident commander Thad Allen said today.
Tomorrow BP will begin installing the final section of casing at the end of the relief well, a task that must be done to ensure its integrity before the company begins the “static kill,” Allen said. BP said yesterday that the casing would start being installed yesterday evening.
The start of the “static kill” could begin 24-36 hours later than planned, so it would take place as soon as 3 August instead of 2 August, Allen said.
During the “static kill,” BP will pump mud into the top of the crippled Macondo well to overcome the pressure of oil rising to the surface. The well has stopped leaking since BP activated a sealing cap on 15 July, and the rising pressure inside the well bore is what will allow the company to attempt to kill the well from the top, a process that failed in May.
Pressure inside the well continued to build today and has reached 6,969psi, Allen said, indicating the well has maintained its integrity.
Responders have found it increasingly difficult to find patches of oil on the surface of the water, fishing areas are re-opening and officials have been in discussions on how to move from response to recovery.
Allen said during his daily briefing today that, “We should not be writing any obituary for this event,” which began after the Deepwater Horizon rig that was drilling the Macondo well exploded on 20 April and sank two days later.
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