Gulf oil spill: 'Top kill' looking doubtful, may be scrapped, BP chief says

A risky procedure to stop the oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico has yet to show much success, and BP is considering scrapping it in favor of a different method to contain the worst oil spill in U.S. history, an executive said Saturday.

The comments from BP PLC chief operating officer Doug Suttles came amid increasing skepticism that the “top kill” operation — which involves pumping heavy drilling mud into a crippled well 5,000 feet underwater — would halt the leak.

The top kill began Wednesday, and “to date it hasn't yet stopped the flow,” Suttles told reporters at Port Fourchon. “What I don't know is whether it ultimately will or not.”

If the top kill fails, BP would cut off the damaged riser from which the oil is leaking and cap it with a containment valve that's already resting on the sea floor. BP is already preparing for that operation, Suttles said.

Since the top kill began Wednesday, BP has pumped huge amounts mud into the well at a rate of up to 2,700 gallons per minute, but it's unclear how much is staying there. A robotic camera on the sea floor appeared to show mud escaping at various times during the operation. On Saturday, the substance spewing from the well appeared to be oil, experts said.

BP has also tried several times to shoot assorted junk into the well's crippled blowout preventer to clog it up and force the mud down the well bore. That, too, has met with limited success.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, addressing reporters after he spoke at a high school graduation ceremony in Denver, echoed what Suttles said and said officials were evaluating the next step. He said a relief well was the ultimate solution, but that something was needed to stop the spill until then.

“We're doing everything with the best minds in the world to make sure that happens,” he said.

The oil spill began after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 people. It's the worst spill in U.S. history — exceeding even the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989  off the Alaska coast — dumping between 18 million and 40 million gallons into the gulf, according to government estimates.

Experts and other observers were growing increasingly skeptical that BP would be able to plug the well. Eric Smith, associate director of the Tulane Energy Institute, said Saturday that the top kill appeared headed for failure. “They warned us not to draw too many conclusions from the effluent, but … it doesn't look like it's working,” he said.

BP had pegged the top kill's chances of success at 60% to 70%. The company says the best way to stop the flow of oil is by drilling relief wells, but those won't be completed until August.

-- Associated Pres

Comments

[carl martigani]

Hello, If I knew the pipe size and its schedual, and the pressure of the oil flowing out, then maybe my plan could work to stop the leak. Also, using scrubbers located on ships or barges with oil holding tanks can and will clean up the oil in the Gulf. If you want anymore info email me. All the best. Carl

[PO'd]

"Is "junk" the official term released by BP? More great reporting from the LAT..."

It is the term used by BP; the method is called a "junk shot".

[David]

"If the top kill fails, BP would cut off the damaged riser from which the oil is leaking and cap it with a containment valve that's already resting on the sea floor..." so why was this not done earlier?

[yu]

I think people should start to think the possibility that it lasts...like a year. What if still BP cannot figure this out? Would people still sit there and watch? Seeing the way they do it, it doesn't seem to be too imaginary plot. I think people should be prepared for the possibility of BP's ultimate failure and prepare accordingly, especially the administration.

[joseph blowe]

"BP has also tried several times to shoot assorted junk into the well's crippled blowout preventer to clog it up and force the mud down the well bore."

Is "junk" the official term released by BP? More great reporting from the LAT...

[Greg Maragos]

Nobody likes to see the Gulf of Mexico defiled in such a way, but this is the price we pay for gasoline--and, as bad as this situation is, I would not want to live in a world without gasoline. The alternative is unthinkable: mass transportation and communication at a virtual standstill--no cars, no air conditioning during the summer, and many other "little" things we all have a tendency to take for granted.

I'm all for alternative fuels, but until we acquire a source of energy that can approach the high extraction-to-yeild ratio of petroleum, we are, more or less, stuck with the devil we know.

Obama's squatting on the beach photo op was a mandatory genuflection at the altar of the Great Touchy-Feely Presidency Church that modern American culture worships at, sorry to say.

Make no mistake--I am not by any measure a Barack Obama supporter, but this disaster was not his fault, nor is the length of time it has taken to deal with the situation his fault. Presidents are not super-heros, they are merely men, and whenever we are reminded of this, we, the American public, behave, collectively, like five-year-olds who've been told that their trip to Disneyland has been cancelled:

"But you promised!!!!"

There are many reasons not to vote again for Obama. This unfortunate calamity, however, is not one of them.

[Bill Simpson in Slidell]

British Petroleum got the decimal wrong. It was 6 to 7 percent, not 60 or 70 percent. hopefully, within three years, Beyond Petroleum will be beyond existence.