According to a press release issued by petroleum mogul BP on Monday, drilling of a relief well essential to finally plugging the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico was re-started today at 1:40 pm CDT. The Macondo well malfunction was responsible for a nearly three month oil leak which bled nearly five million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf, severely crippling the Gulf Coast’s oil, tourism, and fishing industries, which together compose the backbone of the region’s economy.
The report tells that BP has successfully installed a locking sleeve onto the well’s casing hangar, and has resumed drilling the new well, which is now about fifty feet from intercepting the Macondo well’s annulus.
Once drilling operations have intercepted this annulus, a space between the casing pipe and the earth, teams will pump heavy drilling mud and cement into the annulus, essentially completing the isolation of the well.
Following BP’s press release, National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen released a statement regarding the procedure:
“After extensive consultation between BP engineers and the federal science team, as well as reviewing data collected from measurements I authorized Friday, the Development Driller III today began the final steps towards the completion of the relief well that will intercept the Macondo 252 well and perform the bottom kill procedure.
This accelerated progress was possible after several discussions between BP and the federal scientists and engineers, leading to the installation of a lock-down device over the weekend, which resulted in the necessary conditions to commence the finalization of the relief well. I will continue to provide updates on the progress of the relief well, the final step that will ensure the well is fully and finally killed, as necessary.”