BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) will perform tests Tuesday to see if the recently placed sealing cap has the ability to shut in the well that is gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, a company vice president said.
BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) will perform tests Tuesday to see if the recently
placed sealing cap has the ability to shut in the well that is gushing oil into
the
Gulf of Mexico
, a company vice president said.
The
U.K.
oil
major placed the new device atop the well Monday night, raising the hopes the runaway
well, which has caused a nearly three-month environmental and economic crisis
in at least four coastal states, could be contained.
On Tuesday, the company was running seismic testing and later in the day it
plans to begin testing the integrity of the well, BP Senior Vice President Kent
Wells said in a teleconference. The tests could show that the cap could
completely contain all the oil, he said. However, the tests may also show that
the well cannot be shut down, he added.
"When the data says that we need to open up the well we'll do that,"
he said. "When the data says that the well can be shut in we'll do
that."
Wells declined to speculate on the probability of the cap's success. "The
tests could take anywhere from
6
to 48
hours and it could be extended beyond that," Wells said. If the cap cannot
shut in the well, it will still increase the company's ability to capture oil
from the well, saving it from flowing into the sea, Wells said.
BP has been working to contain the mile-deep leak since shortly after
Transocean Ltd.'s (RIG) Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded on April 20,
killing 11 people.
Even if the cap doesn't capture all the oil, installing it was a necessary step
to prepare for an expected busy hurricane season. The new cap can allow
containment vessels to more quickly disconnect from the system and flee a
storm.
While the company tests the well, it continues to ramp up the collection
efforts of the Helix Producer. As of Tuesday morning, the containment vessel
was collecting at a rate of 12,500 barrels a day, Wells said. The ship has the
ability to collect up to 25,000 barrels of oil a day.
"What we need to remember is that this is the first time this setup has
been put in place so we don't want to get too ambitious with it," Wells
said.
The Helix Producer ship has been near the well for about two weeks. At first it
was delayed from starting up because of bad weather. Over the weekend, the sea
calmed but technical problems have now set back its start-up date.
The ship will be shut down when and if the company shuts in the well, Wells
said. If the cap can completely shut in the well, the company will stop
producing any oil from it, he said. Ultimately, though, the final solution to
the spill is the successful drilling of a relief well, BP said. The company is
drilling two such wells and the first one is still on track to be finished by
the end of July, Wells said.
For the past several weeks, the more loosely fitting cap and the Q4000 system
have managed to keep up to about 25,000 barrels of oil a day out of the Gulf. The
new sealing-cap system, plus additional measures, will allow the recovery of
60,000 barrels to 80,000 barrels a day in two to three weeks, BP has said.
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