Gulf oil spill: BP oil cap appears to be working; 48-hour testing period may be extended

A BP executive says that officials may extend beyond 48 hours the ongoing test to determine whether it is safe to keep a tight seal on its troubled Deepwater Horizon well, adding that he is "encouraged" by the readings thus far.

In a telephone briefing with reporters Saturday morning, BP Senior Vice President Kent Wells said the pressure inside the well remained in a range that gave him some confidence that the underground pipes haven't been leaking.

"There's no evidence we lack integrity in the well," Wells said. "We're just going to continue on monitoring the pressures."

The well was sealed Thursday afternoon; the pressure testing will determine whether its underground pipes have enough integrity to handle an ongoing seal at the top.

Low pressure readings could indicate the existence of leaks. If they do exist, BP and government officials say that a full seal of the well at the top could force more oil out of the pipes, eventually up to the seabed, creating new leaks, and a much more complicated problem.

Wells said there had always been a possibility that the test would be extended beyond 48 hours, and that an extension may help experts learn more about the well.

The pressure readings inside the well Saturday morning were at 6,745 pounds per square inch and rising slowly. Though relatively good news, that number does not give the clearest answer about what is going on underground. Wells said that a reading of 7,500 psi "would really say to us that we do have integrity under essentially any scenario."

A measurement between 6,000 and 7,500 psi is more of a gray area. On Friday, Wells said the current pressure buildup seemed to indicate that the well hasn't been leaking, but that the underground oil reservoir had released so much oil since the beginning of the gusher in April that its pressure had diminished.

Wells said the federal government would make the final decision about whether to keep the well sealed at the top or to open it again. If it is opened, some oil would again spill into the Gulf of Mexico, and some would be collected by a series of riser pipes and containment ships. 

BP has said that by the end of July it should have new technology and ships in place to be able to collect all of the oil -- up to 60,000 barrels a day -- that had been flowing from the Deepwater Horizon well since late April. Wells said the company may also be able to use the sealing cap affixed earlier this week to choke back some of the oil flow, putting less burden on the containment ships.

-- Richard Fausset in Atlanta

Comments

[DWIGHT BAKER]

The following is a letter to sent to Obama and all in our Federal Government and BP and most that have had a hand in working the work to get control of the blown out well.

My allegations and condemnations against our Administration and BP are clearly proven--- now the next thing that I must do is get this in the face of We the People to drive public unrest to a fever pitch to bring about indictments of many in a criminal court of law.

Any one who has a good publication or news show to help drive this along please let me know.

Dwight Baker creator and owner of Tame Nature with overshot the SURE CURE for plugging the BP Blown Out Macondo Well
July 30, 2010
Dbaker007@stx.rr.com

President Barack Obama

SUBJECT: STATIC KILL might bring chills when the flimsy rubber seal gives way and moves up and again comes the ragging beast again--- too late in the game to continuing doing wrong things

Sir,
You and your entire staff are set to take it on the chin again unless a few good things are done now before BP rushes head long in and breaks down the plugs in the well pumping into it and here comes pressures that can not be contained by the flimsy rubber seal arraignment of their iron being used now.

Now to fix things before they go all wrong again might be a simple fix for them. Casing that is being set to pump cement and mud into the well must go from the cap up to and through the Mother Ship. Once there a snub down set of cables can be installed to keep all of that iron in secure state. They will have a wellhead set of valves wings and other things to tie the pumps onto. That is the group of equipment to secure the tie down lines too, it is called snubbing in oil and gas engineering circles.

Now unless you have not seen, the Federal Government and BP owe me $175 million. BP is using my Tame Nature plans and process at this time but yet like the casing being run up just 2000 ft as has been reported is dumb as can be. I do not like BP any way any how I know that they are men who know how to crook the books and are the best crooks that survived when Lord Browne took over BP and fired about all the good oil and gas engineers to cut cost.

Final note: Our federal Government and BP are in a deep abyss right now for they were so entwined refused to see the merits in the Tame Nature plan and because of that 90 days or more of horror has been felt by our people on the gulf and all the Rich Resources it has provided for us for years. And when that is made public and it will many at the top of the heap will have more to do they ever thought before.

Best Regards
Dwight Baker

[Bioenergetic Randolph]

I'm sure everything is going fine, but just to make sure, how is the rest of the seabed doing in a 30 mile radius from "Macondom?" Since everything is going so well, why not allow 3rd party media and scientists into the Gulf with their equipment, so they can have a proper look and report back their findings?

[David Leland Hyde]

Thank heavens this maritime Chernobyl may finally be finished bleeding black destruction into our collective liquid future. I hope everyone learns something. In particular hopefully this catastrophe penetrates even the densest denial that this industry ultimately needs to be phased out and the quicker the better.

[Just ME in TJust ME in T]

It is reported that scientists are being offered $250.00 per hour by BP, if they will simply sign on the dotted line, and keep silent about their work and findings for at least the next three years. Traitor? such a strong word "Judas" .... you choose....

http://just-me-in-t.blogspot.com/2010/07/judas-money-sign-on-dotted-line.html

[JJ]

The pressure has been nearly the same since the test began: 6,700 psi. They aren't going to want to admit that they cannot reach 7,500 because of a sub-sea leak. My understanding is that this cannot be repaired, which would mean sheer catastrophe; of course they won't admit it!

If it were a resounding success, they would already have been touting it loudly and arrogantly.

I wouldn't take this as a positive sign at all, and I sure as heck wouldn't solely rely on a BP spokesperson to react to the ongoing test.

[Tom Lakosh]

Even with three oil capture vessels immediately available, BP plans to illegally discharge oil directly into the ocean if oil recovery is restarted. This is due to the fact that the Top Cap Choke Line valve is the only variable control valve to gradually relieve well pressure and BP is apparently unwilling to connect a discharge hose to this Choke Line. The USCG must immediately require that the discharge line from the BOP be switched to the Top Cap Choke Line to prevent any future discharge of oil to the Gulf.

[insanityrules]

The Macondo Well was drilled IN the New Madrid Fault, not on the seafloor. A previous deep ground earthquake was a wake up call to BP, but was ignored. Hence, the seabed has logically become unstable up to 100 miles from the site. The "cap" testing is a diversion. They are testing the integrity of the wellsite and surrounding area due to impending use of a EPFCG weapon, in order to seal the site. Due to massive damage, the well casings are not capable of being drilled into, cue the useless relief wells. The people of the U.S. need to be told the truth. This is a life threatening event in every way possible. If the site continues to spew oil/gas/radiation into the sea and air, a mass extinction event is likely. Severe weather/earth changes are appearing now. Maybe we have destroyed ourselves.....

[Bill Carson]

They will open this ! It's just another chapter to make money on the ups and downs of BP stock on the market !

How long will the federal government and the Coast Guard allow these oil companies to keep getting away with this ?

(1) North Cape spill ,Rhode Island— January 1996

A total of 828,000 gallons of #2 home-heating oil spilled into the Block Island Sound when the barge North Cape and its tug ran aground at Moonstone Beach in Rhode Island after the tug caught fire. A 250-square-mile area was affected. Shellfish, finfish and birds were most affected; an estimated 9 million lobsters were killed as a result of the spill.

(2) World Prodigy spill,Rhode Island — June 1989

About 290,000 gallons of #2 home-heating oil spilled into Narragansett Bay when the barge World Prodigy ran aground on Brenton Reef near Newport. The oil spread over a 120-square-mile area, taking a large toll on lobsters and other shellfish and finfish.

(3) Buzzard's Bay spill,Massachusetts — April 2003

98,000 gallons of #6 oil spilled into Buzzard's Bay,Massachusetts when Bouchard Transportation Co.'s Barge #120 cargo tank ruptured. The oil spill has affected 90 miles of coastline along the bay, and has shown up on beaches as far east as Block Island and Narragansett,Rhode Island. Toll is heavy on birds and shorelines and this case is still in litigation for the last eight years !

April 2010 -Gulf of Mexico - unknown amounts of oil !

[Larry Berg]

This cap is a gamble we should all be hoping like crazy will work until the well can finally be plugged.

[BreakingNewsBlog.us]

>>> SCOOP: The tool able to stop the oil spill in May!!! >>> http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-472981

[Matt Blum]

This is great news for the people of the Gulf Coast and the fishermen! I hope that everything holds up.

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