In the latest development on BP’s efforts to stop the Gulf oil spill, retired Adm. Thad Allen announced on Wednesday that the government has released an order for BP to go ahead with pressure testing on the well.
The integrity test was scheduled to take place Tuesday, but halted due to concerns from government experts that if testing were to proceed with the newly installed cap in place, the pressure in the well would rise, and risk bursting the repair.
On Wednesday, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, national incident commander and head of the government’s response to the oil spill, announced the approval for BP to move forward with integrity tests on the well. “We gave them [BP] some additional direction,“ Adm. Allen said. ”We did this to make sure we were taking due care and in some cases, an overabundance of caution to make sure that we didn’t do irreversible harm to the oil bores.”
However, Allen said they will be watching the pressure readings closely. “If the pressure readings stay low, that will tell us that the oil is going someplace else, and we need to consider the fact we may have a breach in the well bore or in one of the casings.” If readings stay low for more than three hours, they will stop testing on the well immediately.
Ultimately, the testing will provide important information on the conditions of the well. The test results will allow BP and the government to assess how they can implement the relief wells when they pump mud and cement to “kill the well,” said Allen.
The relief wells are still seen as the best option to “permanently seal and isolate the well,” according to BP.
Meanwhile, operations on the second relief well have been suspended at 15,963 feet to avoid interference with the first relief well, which is still continuing to make progress.
Additional reporting by Shahrzad Noorbaloochi
The integrity test was scheduled to take place Tuesday, but halted due to concerns from government experts that if testing were to proceed with the newly installed cap in place, the pressure in the well would rise, and risk bursting the repair.
On Wednesday, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, national incident commander and head of the government’s response to the oil spill, announced the approval for BP to move forward with integrity tests on the well. “We gave them [BP] some additional direction,“ Adm. Allen said. ”We did this to make sure we were taking due care and in some cases, an overabundance of caution to make sure that we didn’t do irreversible harm to the oil bores.”
However, Allen said they will be watching the pressure readings closely. “If the pressure readings stay low, that will tell us that the oil is going someplace else, and we need to consider the fact we may have a breach in the well bore or in one of the casings.” If readings stay low for more than three hours, they will stop testing on the well immediately.
Ultimately, the testing will provide important information on the conditions of the well. The test results will allow BP and the government to assess how they can implement the relief wells when they pump mud and cement to “kill the well,” said Allen.
The relief wells are still seen as the best option to “permanently seal and isolate the well,” according to BP.
Meanwhile, operations on the second relief well have been suspended at 15,963 feet to avoid interference with the first relief well, which is still continuing to make progress.
Additional reporting by Shahrzad Noorbaloochi
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