BP Crews Resume Drilling Relief Well

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.”

Blowout Preventer Removal Suspended Due To Weather

National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen told reporters in a conference call Monday that weather concerns in the Gulf of Mexico are forcing the joint command to suspend operations to remove the stacking cap and blowout preventer from the failed Deepwater Horizon Macondo well.

“We’re only good at to three to five days.  So I am predicting three days at this point.  As I have been (want) to do in the past, I don’t use any hard schedules that should be laid out at this time.  We should have been ready to go right after Labor Day.  But obviously this will move that,” said Allen.

The administration’s point man on the BP-Deepwater Horizon spill response told the media that the weather is not related to tropical depressions in the Atlantic, but local storms in the Gulf.

Retrieval of the blowout preventer remains a crucial part of the federal investigation into what caused the spill.

Allen Directs BP To Remove Capping Stack, BOP From Macondo Well

From the Deepwater Horizon Response Joint Command:

“WASHINGTON - National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen today authorized BP to terminate the fishing procedure and begin the removal of the capping stack followed by the BOP, including the specific conditions required for the removals to take place.”

Officials contend that removal of the Macondo well’s failed blowout preventer will assist in the administration’s investigation into the cause of the oil spill that leaked an estimated 4.9 millions barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico from April 20th until the capping stack sealed the leak in mid-July.

The directive issued by Retired Coast Guard Admiral Allen requires that BP cooperate with the Joint Investigation Team and the Department of Justice Criminal Investigation Evidence Recovery Team throughout the removal process.

Thad Allen Statement On Static Kill

“Based on the successful completion of the static kill procedure and a positive evaluation of the test results, I have authorized BP to cement its damaged well. I made it clear that implementation of this procedure shall in no way delay the completion of the relief well.”