| Site Navigation |
|
|
| Search Archives |
|
|
| |
| Health Safety Environment |
Update:
BP casing final leg of 1st Macondo blowout relief well
(7/30/2010 - OGI: Houston) BP last night began running the last 2,000 ft of 9-7/8-inch casing in the first relief well being drilled with the semisubmersible drilling rig Development Driller III and cementing it in place in preparation for the final well killing operation.
Admiral Thad Allen of the US Coast Guard, incident commander for the response to the Macondo blowout disaster, said at a briefing late yesterday that the kill operations are being moved up. "We continue to make good progress towards both the static kill and the bottom relief well," he said. "We look to be laying the casing line into the relief well later on this evening and cementing that. That will set the stage for us to move on with the static kill which will be pumping the mud and then the cement in through the top of the well." He added that moving the operation forward will depend on how well the casing operation goes.
The "static kill" at the top of the wellbore is to be carried out with the pumping of drilling mud through the kill line of the blowout preventer (BOP) by the Helix Q4000. Cement will then follow the mud once the well has been killed. When that has been accomplished, the first relief well is to drill the last hundred ft into the Macondo annulus and mud is to be pumped into it for the bottom kill, which will again be followed by cement to permanently seal the well. This will be tested to be certain the well is dead by the drilling by the Development Driller III into the main wellbore. All of this is expected to require about two weeks to accomplish.
Allen said, "The pressure in the wellhead is up to 6,951 psi. It continues to exhibit all of the characteristics of a well with integrity. We continue to do seismic runs and testing, visual monitoring, hydrophone and geophone testing, and again there are no indications of anomalies that would lead us to believe we have a problem with well integrity and the final kill should not proceed."
BP is the operator of Mississippi Canyon Block 252 and the blown out Macondo well with 65% interest in partnership with Anadarko, holding 25% interest and Mitsui Oil with the remaining 10%.
Click here to read earlier report.
OGI Homepage I Contact Us
|
| |
