Tropical Storm Bonnie turned from the Bahamas Thursday and aimed at the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 2010 . Oil spill containment and cleanup was brought to a standstill. The massive flotilla assembled by BP for the oil spill containment and cleanup waited for official word from Thad Allen, the federal director of the spill response, on whether to evacuate. The storm must pass before crews attempt a final effort to kill the well. But the feds are confident, according to Allen, the storm will not force them to disconnect the oil spill containment cap that has stanched the flow from the ruptured well.
Oil spill containment delayed by Tropical Storm Bonnie
Forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm system could become Tropical Storm Bonnie later Thursday and reach the Gulf of Mexico by Saturday. The Associated Press reports that crews were just days away from finishing a relief well to permanently seal the well before work was halted. Crews had planned to spend Wednesday and Thursday reinforcing with cement the last few feet of the relief well that will be used to pump mud into the gusher and kill it once and for all. If Tropical Storm Bonnie forces work crews to evacuate, it could be two weeks before they can resume the effort to kill the well. To meet BP’s timeline of plugging the blowout by early August, the relief well would have to be complete by the end of July.
Static kill attempt needs relief well in place
A new technique being discussed to plug the BP oil leak is called a “static kill” in oil industry parlance. A static kill, as outlined by the New York Times, involves pumping drilling mud through the blowout preventer to the well to permanently stanch the flow. To minimize risk of damaging the relief well if something goes wrong with the static kill, the procedure can only begin when the relief well casing is fully installed. If the static kill works as advertised, the relief well will still be needed to confirm that the well has been killed. To kill the well for good if the static kill fails, mud could be pumped into the relief well for various days, or maybe weeks.
Pressure on oil spill cap increasing as planned
The government has given BP the go-ahead to leave the oil spill containment cap in place as Tropical Storm Bonnie approaches. Allen told Bloomberg that data from the well gave the response team confidence that leaving the cap in place wouldn’t be an issue. Oil and gas is not escaping from elsewhere within the well bore, as outlined by increasing pressure readings on the oil spill cap, BP said on its website. Each day the pressure holds gives the team more confidence, a BP official said.
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