BP claims victory as mud plugs Gulf well
Source: Agencies |
August 5, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
BP claimed a key victory yesterday in its effort to plug its blown-out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico while the government said the vast majority of oil from the worst offshore spill in United States history was already gone.
Declaring it a milestone, BP PLC said mud that was forced down the well was holding back the flow of crude and it was in a "static condition."
Also, White House energy adviser Carol Browner said on morning TV talk shows that a new assessment found that about 75 percent of the oil has either 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 television. On ABC television, she said about 25 percent remained.
In the Gulf, workers stopped pumping mud in after about eight hours of their "static kill" procedure and were monitoring the well to ensure it stayed stable, BP said.
"It's a milestone," BP PLC spokeswoman Sheila Williams said. "It's a step toward the killing of the well."
The pressure in the well dropped quickly in the first 90 minutes of the static kill procedure on Tuesday, a sign that everything was going as planned, wellsite leader Bobby Bolton said.
The static kill - also known as bullheading - involved slowly pumping the mud from a ship down lines running to the top of the ruptured well a mile below. BP has said that may be enough by itself to seal the well.
A 75-ton cap placed on the well in July has been keeping the oil bottled up inside over the past three weeks, but is considered only a temporary measure. Before the cap was lowered onto the well, 651 million liters of crude flowed into the sea, unleashed by the April 20 explosion aboard the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon that killed 11 workers.
Declaring it a milestone, BP PLC said mud that was forced down the well was holding back the flow of crude and it was in a "static condition."
Also, White House energy adviser Carol Browner said on morning TV talk shows that a new assessment found that about 75 percent of the oil has either 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 television. On ABC television, she said about 25 percent remained.
In the Gulf, workers stopped pumping mud in after about eight hours of their "static kill" procedure and were monitoring the well to ensure it stayed stable, BP said.
"It's a milestone," BP PLC spokeswoman Sheila Williams said. "It's a step toward the killing of the well."
The pressure in the well dropped quickly in the first 90 minutes of the static kill procedure on Tuesday, a sign that everything was going as planned, wellsite leader Bobby Bolton said.
The static kill - also known as bullheading - involved slowly pumping the mud from a ship down lines running to the top of the ruptured well a mile below. BP has said that may be enough by itself to seal the well.
A 75-ton cap placed on the well in July has been keeping the oil bottled up inside over the past three weeks, but is considered only a temporary measure. Before the cap was lowered onto the well, 651 million liters of crude flowed into the sea, unleashed by the April 20 explosion aboard the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon that killed 11 workers.
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