Oil flows as BP halts work on well fixes 'Incredibly big concern' for ruptures, expert says of decision to delay work

spookyturtle · July 14, 2010

This doesn't sound good.

HOUSTON — After days of progress on the Gulf of Mexico oil leak, BP said Wednesday that work on both a stopgap solution and a permanent fix to the gusher had been delayed.

BP was vague about the reasons for pushing back tests of a new cap meant to trap oil in the well and why it stopped, for up to 48 hours, drilling on a relief well aimed at plugging the gusher for good from underground.

Kent Wells, a BP senior vice president, said at a Wednesday news briefing that it was the government's call late Tuesday to re-evaluate plans for testing the new cap over the leak. That plan was put on hold for 24 hours.

He said the "exact integrity" of the well was unclear. "It's a good precaution for us to take at this time," Wells added. "We need to understand exactly what's going on."

With oil still gushing freely into the Gulf, Wells said BP and federal officials will re-evaluate the best path forward after the 24 hours.

But he did not commit with certainty to returning to the plan, in place before the late Tuesday delay, to shut the leak off by closing the valves on the new cap. Wells suggested other oil collection options might be redeployed.

"We want to move forward with this as soon as we are ready to do it," he said.

Could test endanger relief well?

Wells said the cap test, which could put the oil in the well under added pressure, could have an effect on the relief well. He did not elaborate.

An unstable area around the wellbore could create bigger problems if the leak continued elsewhere in the well after the cap valves were shut, experts said.

"It's an incredibly big concern," said Don Van Nieuwenhuise, director of Professional Geoscience Programs at the University of Houston. "They need to get a scan of where things are, that way when they do pressure testing, they know to look out for ruptures or changes."

The relief well's timeframe has always been hazy, with company and federal officials giving estimates ranging from the end of July to the middle of August before it can be completed.

Wells said the test delay was ordered by National Incident Commander Thad Allen, who wanted to make sure everyone was clear on the steps involved and what the data gathered during the test might mean.

"This test is so important a decision was taken to give them another 24 hours to make sure this was the best possible test procedure we could execute," he said.

But Wells declined to say that the company would definitely proceed with the "shut in" of the new cap, which was its planned course a day before.

The test is designed to tell if oil leaking to the surface is coming from a single leak or if more leaks are present elsewhere in the well. If it's the latter case, the company would leave the valves open on the cap and try to collect the oil with up to four vessels floating on the surface above.

The oil giant had been scheduled to start slowly shutting off valves Tuesday on the cap, aiming to stop the flow of oil for the first time in three months.

A series of methodical, preliminary steps were completed before progress stalled. Engineers spent hours on a seismic survey, creating a map of the rock under the sea floor to spot potential dangers, like gas pockets. The map also provides a baseline to compare with later surveys during and after the test to see if the pressure on the well is causing underground problems.

Allen late Tuesday met with the federal energy secretary and the head of the U.S. Geological Survey as well as BP officials and other scientists after the mapping was done.

"As a result of these discussions, we decided that the process may benefit from additional analysis," Allen said in a statement. He didn't specify what type of analysis would be done, but said work would continue until Wednesday.

Assuming BP gets the green light to do the cap testing after the extra analysis is finished, engineers can finally begin to shut the openings in the 75-ton metal stack of pipes and valves gradually, one at a time, while watching pressure gauges to see if the cap holds or any new leaks erupt.

The testing could last anywhere from six to 48 hours.

If the cap works, it will enable BP to stop the oil from gushing into the sea, either by holding all the oil inside the well machinery like a stopper or, if the pressure is too great, channeling some though pipes to as many as four collection ships.

Marine food web altered

As attempts to stop the leak continued, scientists reported early signs that the spill was altering the marine food web by killing or tainting some creatures and spurring the growth of others more suited to a fouled environment.

Near the spill site, researchers have documented a massive die-off of pyrosomes — cucumber-shaped, gelatinous organisms fed on by endangered sea turtles.

Along the coast, droplets of oil are being found inside the shells of young crabs that are a mainstay in the diet of fish, turtles and shorebirds.

And at the base of the food web, tiny organisms that consume oil and gas are proliferating.

If such impacts continue, the scientists warn of a grim reshuffling of sealife that could over time cascade through the ecosystem and imperil the region's multibillion-dollar fishing industry.

Along the Gulf Coast, where the spill has heavily damaged the region's vital tourism and fishing industries, people anxiously awaited the outcome of the painstakingly slow work.

"I don't know what's taking them so long. I just hope they take care of it," said Lanette Eder, a vacationing school nutritionist from Hoschton, Ga., who was walking on the white sand at Pensacola Beach, Fla.

"I can't say that I'm optimistic — It's been, what, 84 days now? — but I'm hopeful," said Nancy LaNasa, 56, who runs a yoga center in Pensacola.

The cap is just a stopgap measure. To end the leak for good, the well needs to be plugged at the source. BP is drilling two relief wells through the seafloor to reach the broken well, possibly by late July, and jam it permanently with heavy drilling mud and cement. After that, the Gulf Coast faces a long cleanup.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38200524/ns/disaster_in_the_gulf/

Gary and Alla · July 14, 2010

Once again the Obama administration steps in and snaps defeat from the jaws of victory. Actually not, this was never gong to work anyway. Obama knows what will work, he is purposely using the situation to promote his political agenda.

Trumplestiltskin · July 14, 2010

Once again the Obama administration steps in and snaps defeat from the jaws of victory. Actually not, this was never gong to work anyway. Obama knows what will work, he is purposely using the situation to promote his political agenda.

:rolleyes: Yeah we can see how well that has worked out seeing as his approval ratings have take a beating over this incident.

It's not exactly in his interest to have this situation continue...

spookyturtle · July 15, 2010

Update:

HOUSTON — After a government review concluded that pressure tests of a new containment cap would not make the Gulf oil spill worse, BP on Wednesday started the process to begin testing — raising hopes once again that the flow could be stopped nearly three months after the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion.

Kent Wells, a BP senior vice president, said at a Wednesday evening news briefing that the valve on the top portion of the cap had been shut, meaning the oil had stopped pouring out from there. Live video of the cap a mile below the Gulf surface confirmed a significantly reduced flow.

The full "integrity test" will begin when the flow of oil stops coming out of the cap, a BP spokesman told NBC News.

On its Twitter feed Wednesday, BP reported a leak was detected and isolated in a pipe on the cap and the test won't begin until that is repaired.

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the Obama administration's point man on the disaster, said the government gave the go-ahead after carefully reviewing the risks.

"What we didn't want to do is compound that problem by making an irreversible mistake," he said at the end of a 24-hour roller-coaster of hopes raised, hopes dashed and hopes raised again along the Gulf Coast.

The cap — a 75-ton metal stack of pipes and valves — was lowered onto the well on Monday in hopes of either bottling up the oil inside the well machinery, or capturing it and funneling it to the surface. But before BP could test the equipment, the government intervened because of second thoughts about whether the buildup of pressure from the gushing oil could rupture the walls of the well and make the leak worse.

"We sat long and hard about delaying the tests," Allen said. He said that the pause was necessary in the interest of the public, the environment and safety, and that officials were convinced the test could go forward.

A prelude to the test began with BP shutting off pipes that were funneling some of the oil to ships on the surface so the full force of the gusher went up into the cap. Then deep-sea robots began slowly closing, one at a time, three openings in the cap that let oil pass through. Ultimately, the flow of crude will be blocked entirely. All along, engineers will be watching pressure readings to learn whether the well is intact.

Allen said BP will monitor the results every six hours and end the test after 48 hours to evaluate the findings

BP has been directed to carry out "additional seismic testing and monitoring from ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) as well as acoustic and temperature monitoring throughout the duration of the well integrity test," the White House said in a statement. "The test will take up to 48 hours and will include periodic assessments in 6-hour increments."

Earlier, Doug Suttles, BP chief operating officer of exploration and production, told CNN that "there were a couple of other concerns around ways flow could escape and we needed to go examine those before we proceeded."

An unstable area around the wellbore could create bigger problems if the leak continued elsewhere in the well after the cap valves were shut, experts said.

"It's an incredibly big concern," said Don Van Nieuwenhuise, director of Professional Geoscience Programs at the University of Houston. "They need to get a scan of where things are, that way when they do pressure testing, they know to look out for ruptures or changes."

Suttles said the government wanted to verify that the casing, or the piping in the well, is intact and that the oil would stay contained if BP caps the well with its 75-ton metal stack.

'A good precaution' to wait

Wells said earlier Wednesday that it was the government's call late Tuesday to re-evaluate plans for testing the new cap. "It's a good precaution for us to take at this time," Wells added. "We need to understand exactly what's going on."

The cap is a stopgap measure until a relief well can be drilled to then plug the blownout well. The relief well's timeframe has always been hazy, with company and federal officials giving estimates ranging from the end of July to the middle of August before it can be completed.

The test is designed to tell if oil leaking to the surface is coming from a single leak or if more leaks are present elsewhere in the well.

If it's the latter case, the company would leave the valves open on the cap and try to collect the oil with up to four vessels floating on the surface above. Allen said a bigger siphoning operation should be in place by Monday to collect all or most of the oil if it is not contained by the cap.

The oil giant had been scheduled to start slowly shutting off valves Tuesday on the cap, aiming to stop the flow of oil for the first time in three months.

A series of methodical, preliminary steps were completed before progress stalled. Engineers spent hours on a seismic survey, creating a map of the rock under the sea floor to spot potential dangers, like gas pockets. The map also provides a baseline to compare with later surveys during and after the test to see if the pressure on the well is causing underground problems.

Allen late Tuesday met with the federal energy secretary and the head of the U.S. Geological Survey as well as BP officials and other scientists after the mapping was done.

"As a result of these discussions, we decided that the process may benefit from additional analysis," Allen said.