by Miles Wolf Tamboli - Talk Radio News Service
In a conference call with reporters, Friday, National Incident Commander Thad Allen reported the status of pressure tests on the Macondo deepwater well - the well responsible for the months-long oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico - which resumed Thursday after storms passed through the Gulf.
Allen told reporters that the tests had revealed, “something that is between the annulus and the reservoir that is not allowing the flow of hydrocarbons … the question is, what to do about that moving forward.”
Crews have determined that there may be as much as 1,000 barrels of “stagnant” oil suspended in the well, which could compromise the success of the bottom kill. “Tt remains a work in progress,” said Allen; “we’re trying to assess the options that we have. Everyone is in agreement that we need to proceed with the relief well - the question is how to do that.”
There is a risk that pumping mud and cement into the bottom of the well could increase the pressure beyond the threshold of the machinery now holding the well shut. “To increase the pressure in the blowout preventer and the capping stack in excess of 7,500 PSI would put that link in between them at risk, and we’re trying to figure out what that means and how we could mitigate that risk,” said Allen.
Officials report that they are still wholly committed to completing the relief well and executing the bottom kill, and Allen reported that despite pressure test results showing a possible situation in which conducting a bottom kill could endanger the well’s integrity, BP officials would be “delighted” to show that they could, “drill down over 17,00 feet below sea level and hit a 7-inch pipe.”
“The relief well will be finished, and that is the end result. How it gets finished will be determined on risk mitigation and the way forward that’s being discussed right now. The relief well will be finished - we will kill the well,” Allen concluded. The well will take about 96 hours to complete once drilling has resumed, according to administration officials.