Oil Spill Stopped? Containment Cap Briefly Appeared To Halt Oil

UPDATE: BP confirms oil spill has stopped.

The Gulf oil spill appeared momentarily to have been stopped by the latest containment cap, PBS Newshour and CNN reported.

"There does not appear to be oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico," reported PBS based on its live feed of the spill. "Details of the new containment cap will be confirmed in the morning. The new containment cap has been placed & will be pressure tested."

"BP, of course, has to test the new cap over the well to make sure leak has officially stopped," CNN's Nick Valencia wrote. "The video looks hopeful."

While the oil spill was slowed by the new cap, and even seemed to stop for some time, oil could be seen leaking again in the oil spill live feed after 9 p.m. Eastern Time.

Tests will continue with the new cap and may last up to 48 hours, reports Yahoo's Brett Michael Dykes.

BP was quick to downplay the new cap's short-lived apparent success. "The sealing cap system never before has been deployed at these depths or under these conditions, and its efficiency and ability to contain the oil and gas cannot be assured," the oil giant said in a statement.

Successful or not, the cap is only meant to be a temporary fix, as The Telegraph notes. BP will continue drilling relief wells to try and provide a more permanent solution to the leak, and maintains that they are slated for completion in mid-August.

Comments

[vulpecula762mm]

03:39 PM on 07/14/2010

Well at least it will destroy some Tea bagging hill-jack confederate states before it destroys the rest of us. We get to hear their death knells before our own. I do feel bad for the Vietnamese shrimpers though.

[HoldOnThere]

03:22 AM on 07/14/2010

People, people, please remember that the blowout left fissurers in well casing. So this cap won't stop the spill - BECAUSE there is oil leaking up through the seabed from this well, NOT merely from the wellhead.

Remember, BP told us that ugly little fact. Of course we all know that Obama well tell us any thing for his beloved BP - but the spilling is still going to be leaking by the barrel load into the Gulf and will be continuing to do so untill they can get another well drilled deeper than the fissures in this blownout oil well. It will still be gushing, but of course Obama want change BP for the what is leaking out of the seabed beyond the dome. Remember, one news guy said there were two leaks, and that one leak is gushing almost as bad as the wellhead itself. BP can't cap this gusher - only lie about it.

[meercat19]

11:01 PM on 07/13/2010

"A pivotal moment in the Gulf oil crisis hit an unexpected snag this evening when officials announced they needed more time before they could begin choking off the geyser of crude at the bottom of the sea.

BP and government officials did not say what prompted the decision or when the testing on the new, tighter-fitting cap would begin. The oil giant was scheduled to start slowly shutting off valves on the 75-ton metal stack of pipes and valves today, aiming to stop the flow of oil for the first time in three months.

A series of methodical, preliminary steps were completed, including mapping the seafloor. Later today, National Incident Commander Thad Allen met with the federal energy secretary and the head of the U.S. geological survey and other scientists and geologists.

“As a result of these discussions, we decided that the process may benefit from additional analysis that will be performed tonight and tomorrow,” Allen said."

For those that dont speak corp-speak...that means it aint working..MOTHERPUSSBUCKET!!!!

[mrJJ]

10:20 AM on 07/13/2010

Bobby Jindal's $350 Million Dollar Boondoggle... a Failure...

Chandeleur sand berm segment shrinking like a wool sweater in hot water!

If a single picture is worth 1,000 words this 3-picture 378-word post is short on verbiage but long on information.

Regular readers of LaCoastPost know that I have long been challenging the wisdom and effectiveness of constructing artificial sand berms for the specific purpose of intercepting intruding oil. I’m far from alone in this controversy and all the scientists with whom I have spoken share my concerns. For example, see the article by Amy Wold in the July 11 The Advocate, which describes the decision to build the sand berms as driven more by politics than science.

more: http://lacoastpost.com/blog/?p=25001

Gulf's Artificial Islands Already Failing

http://news.discovery.com/earth/gulfs-artificial-islands-already-failing.html

[getoffmedz]

09:35 AM on 07/13/2010

The GOBP and pro-BP vuvuzela have been all over this topic pretending to be scientists, engineers and whatever. Challenging their claims of expertise is met with crickets.

Anyone showing the least bit of skepticism towards corporate-owned media misinformation flow gets immediately flagged and met with sanctimonious populist comments coupled with bursts of unAmerican ODS commenting.

Huffington Post has always been a place to exchange ideas, concepts and to vent heartfelt frustrations on a open forum.

Let's hope it remains that way.

[jweider]

09:24 AM on 07/13/2010

Too bad it didn't work. Then we could get on with trying and executing all of the execs at BP.

[ISO9001]

08:00 AM on 07/13/2010

It just looks like diarrhea coming out of a Mario Bros. type-pipe. Republicans worship this substance.

[StephenJK]

11:53 AM on 07/13/2010

OMG I got a visualization of Will Farrel saying this.....Thanks for the laugh. Even though this is not a laughing matter you seemed to get a rise out of me.

[Neets101]

07:58 AM on 07/13/2010

Heehee, someone is flagging posts for abuse because they don't like the poster's OPINION.
LOL

Go abuse yourself flagger LOL.
lame! no game!

[JimLarkin]

07:54 AM on 07/13/2010

just a thought here... why hasnt BP contacted Christo to wrap the beaches in orange silk?

[holyghostie]

07:05 AM on 07/13/2010

Where was this piece of equipment 80 days ago? Why was it not sitting in a warehouse ready to go for an emergency OR was it?

Why did it take the Feds and the Coast Guard so much time to actually take the lead role from BP? It took Obama to get angered to get it done and it took awhile.

[hollywoodnc1]

07:00 AM on 07/13/2010

It is a fact that millions of barrels of oil has spilled into the Gulf. An oil spill of THIS magnitude would have increased oil prices significantly, as it did during the Bush years with NO spill...
it didn't.

OPEC claimed that it was due to Chinas' insatiable thirst for oil and their coming of age by competing in the world market.

The questions now, with oil prices DROPPING:
Did the Chinese all of a sudden stop driving; are they no longer competing as it was stated during the bush years?

Fact has it that oil prices have dropped even to this day and during the heaviest of driving seasons in the U.S..

We are in this financial mess today, based on what occurred a few years ago, when oil was at an average of $5.00 US per gallon, causing everything to spike to offset transporting goods.
So, why isn't OPEC setting prices higher?

You have to wonder if members of the bush administration were in bed together and had something to do with this cost of energy increase during his reign, to PROFIT off our backs at the pump.
Is the global community using less of any petroleum based products then it did back then?

I'll be waiting for the BS to fly when someone develops the balls to drill OPEC officials and the corrupt bush officials and ask the very same questions.

[JimLarkin]

07:55 AM on 07/13/2010

good point(s)...been asking myself these posers for a while.

[RED BONE]

01:44 PM on 07/13/2010

The Saudi Royal Family i.e. opec, funded the bush oil companies. Why do you think bushie would get on his kness before the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.

[United States of Earth]

06:05 AM on 07/13/2010

This charade is still ongoing? I thought we'd all accepted that if we go to the Gulf, we're swimming in Tony Hayward's toilet.

[ElBorba]

06:03 AM on 07/13/2010

There was an oil spill? . . I was watching America's Next Top Model . .

[UNCLEJOE]

05:57 AM on 07/13/2010

FREE INFINITE SOURCE OF ENERGY

The only way BP can get credit for successfully Capping their Oil Spill, is when the Oil Well runs dry and the Cap is placed on a dead Well.

Than the British Petroleum BP (They haste spelling their name out) will be Lobbying Congress, "We finally developed the Technique for controlling any other Deep Oil Well Spills."

OIL IS DIRTY on the Land, In the Air, on the Birds, on the Fish, on the Beaches, in the Surf, in the Estuaries, and up the Rivers from our pristine Snowy Alaska North Slope down to our Sunny Florida Shore.

Soon Dirty Oil will cover our, "Purple Mountain Majesties and our Fruited Planes".

GOD BLESS AMERICA AND KEEP US CLEAN UNDER SPACIOUS SKYS AND CROWN OUR GOOD LAND WITH OUR GOLDEN SUN THAT WILL SHINE FOREVER AND MAKE US FREE WITH GOLDEN RAYS OF FREE SOLAR POWER. Amen

[JavaManiac]

05:54 AM on 07/13/2010

Clearly BP does not what it is doing in the area of deep water drilling. And that would suggest the other companies do not either. Why are we going to continue permitting this if they cannot prove competency?