BP says new cap has stopped oil leak.BP has managed to stop the flow of oil from the compromised Deepwater Horizon oil well for the first time in the nearly three months since the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico began. Response team leaders and the White House caution, however, that the capping of the well is only part of an extensive test to check well integrity, and that the well may need to be re-opened.
“We’re encouraged by this development, but this isn’t over,” Thad Allen, the National Incident commander, said in a statement Thursday evening.
“Over the next several hours we will continue to collect data and work with the federal science team to analyze this information … in the hopes of gaining a better understanding on the condition of the well bore and options for temporary shut [down] of the well during a hurricane,” Allen said.
“It is a great sign. … But I have to stress that we have to manage our expectations,” BP CEO Doug Suttles told reporters at a televised press conference on Thursday.
Perhaps the most important well test will involve determining the pressure on the new well cap. High pressure readings would indicate a successful capping of the leak, even if that success is only temporary. Low pressures would let the response team know that other leaks are likely present, still spilling oil into the Gulf, according to information presented by BP.
“It’s possible if the pressures are low that we will have to re-initiate the flow and capture it. And I want to tell you that we’re prepared to do that,” Suttles said.
If the well does need to be re-opened, the new cap will still increase the response team’s ability to collect oil “up to a containment capacity of 60,000 to 80,000 barrels of oil a day,” Robert Gibbs, White House press secretary, said during a White House press briefing on Thursday.
In the 24-hour period before the integrity tests began, slightly less than 8,000 barrels of oil were collected, according to data presented by BP.
The company estimates that the tests will last between 6 and 48 hours.
The drilling of the two relief wells that are seen by the response team as the ultimate, permanent solution to the spill crisis, has been suspended “as a precaution” for the duration of the tests, according to BP.
“We’re encouraged by this development, but this isn’t over,” Thad Allen, the National Incident commander, said in a statement Thursday evening.
“Over the next several hours we will continue to collect data and work with the federal science team to analyze this information … in the hopes of gaining a better understanding on the condition of the well bore and options for temporary shut [down] of the well during a hurricane,” Allen said.
“It is a great sign. … But I have to stress that we have to manage our expectations,” BP CEO Doug Suttles told reporters at a televised press conference on Thursday.
Perhaps the most important well test will involve determining the pressure on the new well cap. High pressure readings would indicate a successful capping of the leak, even if that success is only temporary. Low pressures would let the response team know that other leaks are likely present, still spilling oil into the Gulf, according to information presented by BP.
“It’s possible if the pressures are low that we will have to re-initiate the flow and capture it. And I want to tell you that we’re prepared to do that,” Suttles said.
If the well does need to be re-opened, the new cap will still increase the response team’s ability to collect oil “up to a containment capacity of 60,000 to 80,000 barrels of oil a day,” Robert Gibbs, White House press secretary, said during a White House press briefing on Thursday.
In the 24-hour period before the integrity tests began, slightly less than 8,000 barrels of oil were collected, according to data presented by BP.
The company estimates that the tests will last between 6 and 48 hours.
The drilling of the two relief wells that are seen by the response team as the ultimate, permanent solution to the spill crisis, has been suspended “as a precaution” for the duration of the tests, according to BP.
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