Tests are ongoing but BP, the petroleum company responsible for giant oil spill feels temporary cap may work until permanent well shutdown can be achieved.
On Sunday July 18 2010 BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles told media via a conference call that the temporary cap placed on its leaking Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico seems to be holding up.
A cautious Suttles said that "encouraging" results of pressure testing have enabled BP to plan to continue with the temporary cap until a permanent shut down, likely within a few weeks. "We're hopeful that if the encouraging signs continue that we'll be able to continue the integrity test all the way to the point that we get the well killed," Suttles told reporters on the morning of the 18th.
U.S. National Incident Commander Heads Investigation into BP Oil Spill
U.S. National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen issued a statement through his office on Sunday, in part in response to the comments by Suttles, and his statement suggested the U.S. government is not yet certain the well is going to remain leak-free with the experimental, temporary cap.
Allen, who released a statement on the 17th stating work was progressing on the relief wells the federal government instructed BP to build as "the ultimate step in stopping the BP oil leak for good", said in his Sunday statement that recent tests show “undetermined anomalies...a distance from the well" on the seafloor.
"Work must continue to better understand the lower than expected pressure readings," his Sunday statement went on to say. "This work centers on two plausible scenarios: depletion of oil from the reservoir and potential leakage caused by damage to the well bore or casing.
"While we are pleased that no oil is currently being released into the Gulf of Mexico and want to take all appropriate action to keep it that way, it is important that all decisions are driven by the science. Ultimately, we must ensure no irreversible damage is done which could cause uncontrolled leakage from numerous points on the sea floor."
Many Calling Gulf of Mexico Oil Leak Worst Offshore Leak in U.S. History
The temporary cap was put in place on the 15th and the following three days have been the first without what a U.S. panel of scientists have estimated to be 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil per day flowing into gulf waters since the explosion on April 20. That explosion caused the oil to begin to leak and killed 11 rig workers and injured another 17.
It has been described by Newsweek, the National Geographic, Rolling Stone magazine, and other U.S. and world media as the worst offshore oil leak in United States history and one of the world's worst ever. The wellhead blowout on BP's Deepwater Horizon Drilling rig caused the leaking of what some say has been tens of millions of gallons of oil - others say it has reached hundreds of millions of gallons - into the natural habitat surrounding the Mississippi River Delta and beyond.
Tar balls started turning up on Texas beaches in early July and the habitats of all five U.S. gulf coast states have now been affected by the disaster. Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida have been affected to a much greater degree than Texas and the gushing oil harmed, and continues to harm, the fishing and tourism industries while making victims out of local wildlife.
Mammals and Other Wildlife Dieing and Visibly Oiled From Leak
Thousands of mammals and other wildlife in affected areas have been collected by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officers, and by others, visibly oiled and either dead or wounded as a result. The wildlife collected has included many species of birds, sea turtles and even dolphins. After extensive efforts to clean them some have been released back into the wild.
The U.S. government is on record as saying that BP is on the hook for all of the clean-up and damages created as a result of the spill and has blamed BP entirely for the disaster. BP has admitted they are to blame and say they will do what they can to clean up the damage.
In June BP chief executive Tony Hayward testified in front of the American Congress and was unable to offer an explanation for the explosion. "The explosion and fire aboard the Deepwater Horizon and the resulting oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico never should have happened, and I am deeply sorry that they did," Hayward told the Congress. "None of us yet knows why it happened. But whatever the cause, we at BP will do what we can to make certain that an incident like this does not happen again."
Tests are ongoing daily to monitor the well, both Allen and Suttles reported Sunday. "We will take this day by day," Suttles said.
References:
"BP Oil Spill: BP is Hopeful Gushing of Oil Over for Good," Marcus Hondro, accessed November 7, 2010,
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