Blowout valve remains focus of BP oil spill efforts
13 May 2010
London – BP has issued a new update on its progress to stem the sub-sea leak following the MC252 oil well incident in the Gulf of Mexico. The focus, it said, continues to be on sub-sea efforts to stop the flow of oil from the well via the failed blowout preventer (BOP), and to contain the flow of oil at source.
Efforts include work with experts from the US Department of Energy (DOE) and National Laboratories to determine what is happening inside the BOP at the damaged wellhead, and why the mechanisms to shut off the flow of oil failed to activate as designed.
The joint team, based at BP’s command centre in Houston, is using high powered supercomputers to assist with imaging and sampling of the seafloor; measuring pressures in the BOP stack; and analysing the riser structure and fluid flows.
The research, plus information from remotely-operated sub-sea vehicles, has now provided a better understanding of the condition of the BOP, said BP. This, it added, has allowed planning to continue for a number of potential interventions, including for a “top kill” of the well.
The ’top kill’ process would involve injecting material of varying densities and sizes into the internal spaces of the BOP to provide a seal. Specialised heavy fluids would then be pumped into the well to prevent further flow. This option, said BP, could potentially by tried out next week.
Work to deploy a second system designed to contain the oil flow subsea is also continuing. A small dome or “top hat” has been taken out to the well site and placed on the seabed in preparation for deployment.
Such a system has never been used in water depths of 5,000 feet and its successful operation is not certain, said BP, which, however, aims to deploy this system within the next few days.
Meanwhile, work on a first relief well, which began on 2 May is not expected to be complete for another three months. A drilling rig that will drill the second relief well is currently en route to the site, expected to arrive later this week.
Surface Spill Response and Containment
Work continues to collect and disperse oil that has reached the surface of the sea. Over 530 vessels are involved in the response effort, including skimmers, tugs, barges and recovery vessels. Some 97,000 barrels of oily liquid have now been recovered, said BP.
The total length of boom deployed as part of efforts to prevent oil reaching the coast is now more than 1.2 million feet, with a further 400,000 feet staged in readiness for deployment.
Over 13,000 personnel from BP, other companies and government agencies are currently involved in oil leak response effort.
BP put the cost to date of the response at about $450 million, including the cost of spill response, containment, relief well drilling, commitments to the Gulf Coast States, settlements and federal costs.
