Gulf Oil Spill Static Well
BP has finally started the operation that may lead to the end of the biggest offshore oil leak ever. The aim is to force heavy mud down the throat of the blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico and carry out a "static kill."
The pressure in the well has apperently dropped quickly in the first 90 minutes since the procedure, started which is a good sign as it indicates everything is going as planned.
The work may be complete by Tuesday night or Wednesday, although BP said it may continue until Thursday, and engineers will have to wait for over a week to see if the well is choked for good.
The 75-ton cap placed on the well in July has kept the oil from leakng out over the past 3 weeks, but that is only a temporary measure. The well needs to be plugged with a column of heavy drilling mud and cement.
This will involve slowly pumping mud down the ruptured well a mile below the surface of the sea. That may be enough by itself to seal the well, Thad Allen, the government's man on the spill, says that to be safe, the well needs to be plugged from two directions. The 18,000-foot relief well that has been drilled over the past 3 months will be used later to carry out a "bottom kill," which involves injecting mud and cement into the bedrock 2 1/2 miles below the sea floor.
"There should be no ambiguity about that," Allen said. "I'm the national incident commander and this is how this will be handled."
It is estimated that 205 million gallons of oil have spewed out into the sea, since the explosion on April 20.
BP won't be sure if the static kill has been a success until engineers check their work with the relief well which wil be completed soon.
To see what's happening at the moment at the bottom of the sea check out the live video feeds and webcams - oil spill live video feed
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