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Update:
BP stops oil gushing into US Gulf, capping stack installed
(7/16/2010 - OGI: Houston) Late yesterday, BP made a series of small adjustments with a valve on the containment cap installed earlier and shut off all of the oil gushing into the US Gulf of Mexico.
Kent Wells, BP's senior vice president, announced the well closure at a news conference. He said that this is the beginning of the integrity test of the Macondo well that has been pouring oil into the Gulf for 85 days. The test will last at least six hours and perhaps as long as 48 hours, said Wells, who added that the question is whether the pipe below the seafloor is too damaged to withstand a full seal over a long period of time. He said that if it is incapable of holding the seal, oil could be spewed into the earth beneath the seafloor adding further oil spills into the Gulf. A low pressure reading would indicate such a breach in the pipe, while a high pressure reading would show the wellbore is intact and not leaking. Seismic testing was done before the test and others are to be done during the test to determine if any oil is leaking from the wellbore.
US President Barack Obama said the new cap's sealing of the well is a positive sign, but added, "We're still in the testing phase."
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New containment cap during well integrity test, with no oil escaping. |
National Incident Commander Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said the three ram capping stack was closed, effectively shutting in the well and all subsea containment systems (those linked to the Q4000 and Helix Producer) have been temporarily halted.
He said information gathered during the test will be reviewed with the relevant government agencies, including the federal science team, to determine next steps.
During this integrity test, drilling operations on the first relief have been temporarily suspended at a depth of 17,840 ft and those on the second relief well were temporarily suspended at 15,874 ft as a precaution.
Click here to read earlier report.
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