Leaking pipe delays Gulf oil cap test
Source: Agencies |
July 16, 2010, Friday
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BP engineers were back to the slow work of trying to choke a gushing oilwell in the Gulf of Mexico with an untested cap after replacing a leaky pipe yesterday, the latest delay in the uncertain fix.
Kent Wells, a BP PLC vice president, said in Houston that the overnight leak in a pipe on the side of the towering, 75-ton capping stack was fixed by replacing the assembly, called a "choke line."
The work sent the oil giant back to restarting preparations for testing whether the cap can stop the oil without blowing a new leak in the well. If it works, the cap will be a temporary fix until BP can drill into the gusher to plug it for good from underground, where the seal will hold better.
"Bear with us," Wells said.
The leak was discovered after two of the three valves on the cap that can open or shut the device had been closed, bringing BP and government scientists, who are also watching, tantalizingly close to starting a 48-hour test of how the well and cap withstand the pressure.
Wells had warned that the process of getting ready and then choking the oil 1,500 meters below the sea, at a depth only submarine robots can reach, consisted of many precise, individual steps. "Any one of these steps can take longer than anticipated," Wells said on Wednesday, before the leak disrupted work.
Retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the Obama administration's point man on the disaster, said at a briefing in New Orleans it's not clear yet whether the cap, which was mounted on the well on Monday, will ultimately be used to shut in the oil or to channel it through pipes to collection ships overhead.
"I have a high degree of confidence we can substantially decrease the oil coming into the environment."
The cap remains a temporary fix until one of two relief wells BP is drilling can reach the gusher underground and plug it permanently with heavy drilling mud and cement.
"Make no mistake, the number one goal is to kill the well ... to stop it at the source," Allen said.
The test will involve closing off all three openings in the cap to the Gulf, in theory stopping the oil leaking into the Gulf. BP will be monitoring pressure under the cap. High pressure is good, because it shows there's only a single leak. Low pressure could mean more leaks farther down in the well.
BP expects to keep the oil trapped in the cap for 48 hours before it decides if the approach is working.
With the leaking pipe replaced, BP had to start from a few steps back to resume preparations for the test.
Preparations included letting more oil pour out of the cap temporarily and turning off a pipe that had been sending some of the oil to a collection ship, so that the full force of all the erupting crude would go into the cap. Engineers also had to recheck equipment and move undersea robots that perform the work back into position.
The United States government estimates 5.7 million liters to 9.5 million liters are leaking every day.
As of yesterday, the 86th day of the disaster, between 354 million liters and 698 million liters of oil had spewed into the Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon rig leased by BP exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers.
Kent Wells, a BP PLC vice president, said in Houston that the overnight leak in a pipe on the side of the towering, 75-ton capping stack was fixed by replacing the assembly, called a "choke line."
The work sent the oil giant back to restarting preparations for testing whether the cap can stop the oil without blowing a new leak in the well. If it works, the cap will be a temporary fix until BP can drill into the gusher to plug it for good from underground, where the seal will hold better.
"Bear with us," Wells said.
The leak was discovered after two of the three valves on the cap that can open or shut the device had been closed, bringing BP and government scientists, who are also watching, tantalizingly close to starting a 48-hour test of how the well and cap withstand the pressure.
Wells had warned that the process of getting ready and then choking the oil 1,500 meters below the sea, at a depth only submarine robots can reach, consisted of many precise, individual steps. "Any one of these steps can take longer than anticipated," Wells said on Wednesday, before the leak disrupted work.
Retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the Obama administration's point man on the disaster, said at a briefing in New Orleans it's not clear yet whether the cap, which was mounted on the well on Monday, will ultimately be used to shut in the oil or to channel it through pipes to collection ships overhead.
"I have a high degree of confidence we can substantially decrease the oil coming into the environment."
The cap remains a temporary fix until one of two relief wells BP is drilling can reach the gusher underground and plug it permanently with heavy drilling mud and cement.
"Make no mistake, the number one goal is to kill the well ... to stop it at the source," Allen said.
The test will involve closing off all three openings in the cap to the Gulf, in theory stopping the oil leaking into the Gulf. BP will be monitoring pressure under the cap. High pressure is good, because it shows there's only a single leak. Low pressure could mean more leaks farther down in the well.
BP expects to keep the oil trapped in the cap for 48 hours before it decides if the approach is working.
With the leaking pipe replaced, BP had to start from a few steps back to resume preparations for the test.
Preparations included letting more oil pour out of the cap temporarily and turning off a pipe that had been sending some of the oil to a collection ship, so that the full force of all the erupting crude would go into the cap. Engineers also had to recheck equipment and move undersea robots that perform the work back into position.
The United States government estimates 5.7 million liters to 9.5 million liters are leaking every day.
As of yesterday, the 86th day of the disaster, between 354 million liters and 698 million liters of oil had spewed into the Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon rig leased by BP exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers.
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