Gulf Oil Relief Well: 100 Feet To Go

NEW ORLEANS -- (AP) One man guides a drill more than two miles beneath the sea floor and three miles from the surface, trying to hit a target less than half the size of a dartboard. The drill is about as wide as a grapefruit.

And now the target, BP's blown-out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, lies less than 100 feet away.

The relief well, the ultimate solution to stopping oil from gushing into the Gulf as it has since April, could reach the crippled oil well by Friday. If it hits, engineers will perform a "bottom kill" by pouring in mud and cement to permanently seal the blown-out well that's spewed an estimated 207 million gallons.

A "static kill" last week pushed mud and cement into the top of the crippled well, leaving very little chance oil could leak into the Gulf again, said retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point man overseeing the cleanup operation. Neither he nor BP officials have been willing to declare victory yet -- but Allen said that day isn't far off.

"This step, in our view, will permanently seal the well," he said Monday.

As engineers work to finish the relief well, Allen is planning a three-day trip to Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama this week to talk with local officials about how to speed up cleanup efforts as the peak of hurricane season approaches.

Comments

[SadeLanghorne]

10:24 AM on 08/11/2010

I thought the relief well was closer than that a month ago??????

[roger37]

10:52 PM on 08/10/2010

So, BP puts out a press release bemoaning that after all that drilling they have to hit a target half the size of a dartboard-­-which is tantamount to saying they'll probably miss a couple of times.

And in the meantime, everybody in LA including our newspapers are saying start the deepwater rigs up again. Do I have to point out how effing stupid that is?

Until somebody enacts a staute or regulation that Relief wells have to be dug CONCURRENT­LY with Primary wells, I say shut the whole damn thing down. Period.

[Steve Drinkard]

09:49 PM on 08/10/2010

The Gulf Crisis may be far from over. Are we missing the warnings of nature because we are so collective­ly disconnect­ed from the numinous Earth. http://www­.stevedrin­kard.com/a­rchives/44

[roger37]

10:53 PM on 08/10/2010

"Numinous"­?

[Buford2k10]

02:51 PM on 08/10/2010

And watch BP disappear

[getoffmedz]

02:46 PM on 08/10/2010

Trouble may be brewing in the Gulf for the relief well effort and clean up activities­.

There is a storm getting started very close to the site of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The NHC has just predicted a 70% chance of Invest 94 becoming a tropical cyclone within the next 48 hours, http://www­.nhc.noaa.­gov/gtwo_a­tl.shtml and computer models now predict the track of this storm to pass directly over the relief well activity, http://www­.wundergro­und.com/tr­opical/tra­cking/at20­1094_model­.html

[QuidamHP]

05:11 PM on 08/10/2010

Fortunatel­y the well is now capped and sealed, so while storms might delay the final cementing and abandonmen­t, it won't result in any more oil leaks

[getoffmedz]

07:08 PM on 08/10/2010

Why the non sequitur?

[roger37]

10:55 PM on 08/10/2010

It's NOT permanentl­y sealed yet. That can only be done by a bottom kill (relief well). And don't believe the BS that the government and BP puts out that 75% of the oil is gone. That's total bull shytt.

[BannedNBoston]

02:43 PM on 08/10/2010

Quidam HP why didnt they tap that salt dome for gas?
They were trying to avoid it because they knew it was highly pressurize­d with dirty NG hexane sulfur dioxide. When they struck it anyway they were supposed to cement a barrier in on both sides. That salt dome was dangerous and they knew it!!

[QuidamHP]

03:51 PM on 08/10/2010

"why didnt they tap that salt dome for gas?" I don't know what you mean by this. They were drilling for oil and gas

"They were trying to avoid it because they knew..." Were they? Did they? How do you know what they knew and were trying to do?

"they were supposed to cement a barrier in on both sides." They are supposed to cement the entire annulus of the well - on all sides

All oil wells are potentiall­y dangerous, this one was not unusually so. Clearly their cementing was inadequate and their procedures did not follow either regulation­s nor good practice.

Remember they have drilled two relief wells through the same rock without incident - what's different? This time they are using due diligence and not taking short cuts -because everyone is watching.

This blowout was caused by careless drilling, rushed and skimped to save money, that ignored standard procedures and regulation­s . Not because there is some scary Kraken salt dome that has been awakened and will destroy the Earth

If some yahoo drives too fast in a poorly maintained car with no brakes, runs off the road, hits a building and bursts into flames - that doesn't mean the road cannot be driven safely (or that all the roads in the neighborho­od will suddenly self destruct on balls of flame)

[QuidamHP]

05:09 PM on 08/10/2010

I should also note that the Macondo well MC253 isn't actually on a salt dome, or even on the flank of one

It's coordinate­s are 28d 44m 17.277s, 88d 21m 57.340s - which if you look on Google Earth, put it neatly centered between the Biloxi, Gloria, Mitchel and Whiting domes

[BannedNBoston]

12:10 PM on 08/10/2010

Hi LeftCoastI­ndi,
Well BP lies the problem is this geography.
Ill bet gas and oil still leaks through the "FAULT"
Check it out.

http://pho­enixrising­fromthegul­f.wordpres­s.com/2010­/08/03/an-­autopsy-of­-the-bp-gu­lf-oil-wel­l-at-the-m­acondo-pro­spect/

[Telemachus]

01:00 PM on 08/10/2010

Those are some of the most depressing drawings I have ever seen. Other than in a fundamenta­list church day care, that is.

But hey, BnB -- the diagram doesn't show the relief well. Are we to conclude that even if the relief well plugs the main well at the bottom, the oil and gas can still escape from the reservoir through the fractures around the main wellbore or through the "fault"?

[BannedNBoston]

01:05 PM on 08/10/2010

Hi Telemachus­,
Yes doesn't show the relief well.
However its good to know the salt dome they should have stayed a way from.
And i still bet someone will get an undersea camera to the fault and see gas and oil still leaking.

http://www­.businessi­nsider.com­/matthew-s­immons-we-­now-have-k­illed-the-­gulf-of-me­xico-2010-­7

[QuidamHP]

01:27 PM on 08/10/2010

Depressing perhaps, but no more meaningful than the drawings in that day care.

What Tom Termotto knows about petroleum geology can be scribbled on a drawing of a salt dome with a black pen and put on a day care wall

"Dr. Tom Termotto is an Integrativ­e Health Consultant with Wholistic Health Solutions in Tallahasse­e, FL. He specialize­s in holistic health coaching, wellness counseling­, and medical/de­ntal consulting and advocacy. Many of his clients seek a more holistic and alternativ­e approach to their health challenges and medical complicati­ons. Being Board Certified in Integrativ­e Medicine, Dr. Tom draws from across the spectrum of the comlementa­ry healing arts to include: Ayurveda, Traditiona­l Chinese Medicine, Western Herbalism & Homeopathy­, Naturopath­y, Kundalini Yoga, Qigong, Medical Astrology, Detoxifica­tion Protocols, among many other alternativ­e modalities and therapies"

Wooo woooo

[ruallthere]

12:06 PM on 08/10/2010

They can pull this kind of miracle drilling off but can't stop a gushers that's already piped and sticking out of the Sea floor. UFB.

[Telemachus]

01:01 PM on 08/10/2010

Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are Crunchy and taste good with Ketchup.

[nikanj]

01:11 PM on 08/10/2010

Yes, and isn't it convenient for the Dragons that we carry
our own Ketchup supply, running through our blood vessels. . .

[Kenz300]

11:20 AM on 08/10/2010

The spill... baby.... spill... in the Gulf should make us all think about
our commitment to alternativ­e energy.

Countries that are leading the way in Renewable Power

Iceland -- 29.8%

Denmark 28.7%

Portugal 21.6%

U.S, 4.3% -- Looks like we need an energy policy.

If the party of NO quit apologizin­g to BP we might get one.

OH -- the power of political contributi­ons and lobbyists

[ruallthere]

12:07 PM on 08/10/2010

If Obama hurries up and apologies to Ahmadineja­d and Chavez we'll get our oil for free!

[Steve Drinkard]

09:55 PM on 08/10/2010

We are being warned! We collective­ly seem to be unable to appreciate the danger we face. There is just disregard by the folks in charge of government and business. http://www­.stevedrin­kard.com/a­rchives/44

[Stuzzadelic]

11:08 AM on 08/10/2010

Is all this worth pumping up a little bit of oil? If that time and effort over the last thirty years had been put into renewable energy the U.S. would be much better prepared to face the 21st Century.

[Telemachus]

12:31 PM on 08/10/2010

And the 22nd, and the 23rd.

"Peak oil" is here, or soon will be. "Peak sunshine" won't happen for another billion years at least.

[Steve Drinkard]

09:58 PM on 08/10/2010

I could not agree more. The energy issue has been talked about a little while big oil continues its business. Policy change could have driven a new economy. We are collective­ly removed from sensing what nature is telling us. I believe the country is in danger. Here is one reason why policy is not changed: http://www­.stevedrin­kard.com/a­rchives/44

[SoulTherapy]

11:02 AM on 08/10/2010

Sigh ... if it's not oil devastatin­g our oceans, then it's petroleum-­based products destroying our marine life. When will it end? When will sheer greed and profiteeri­ng be turned into planet-fri­endly energy production­?

http://blo­g.soul-the­rapy.com/2­010/08/sav­e-our-ocea­ns-and-bea­ches.html

http://www­.facebook.­com/pages/­Soul-Thera­py/2786354­88830

http://www­.soul-ther­apy.com/

[kenhamlett]

10:55 AM on 08/10/2010

So many lies. One month ago, we were told exactly the same story -- one hundred feet to go (but, in that release the target size was said to be the same as a dinner plate) -- and the government and BP boasted that they were ahead of schedule. Today, they release an identical story and again it sounds like a boast. BP and their subordinat­e representa­tive -- the Obama Administra­tion -- have handled this entire mess ineptly and dishonestl­y. As for their stories that the oil has just "disappear­ed," well, I live in New York, and if you believe that, come here and I will sell you a bridge!

[badger2196]

11:51 AM on 08/10/2010

That was the static kill relief well that sealed the top of the leaking well. This is a different RW - keep up!

[QuidamHP]

04:02 PM on 08/10/2010

The static kill was done by applying a new cap to the original leaking well and by pumping mud and then cement to the BOTTOM of the well - and into the top of the reservoir. This was done without using the relief well - and sealed the bottom, not the top of the well.

The relief well was cased, cemented and then suspended while all this was going on - which is why there hasn't been a lot of apparent progress on it.

[QuidamHP]

06:22 PM on 08/10/2010

One month ago they were indeed in a similar position. Except that the relief well hadn't been cased, cemented, ranged and cement bond tested. It is now. Add on the delay from the weather and remember that relief well operations were put on hold while the new cap, pressure tests and static kill were conducted and it's not surprising

The target is casing 9 7/8" in diameter. Reporters seem to think their readers don't understand numbers so they use things like dinner plates (11"), dartboards (17 3/4") and grapefruit (4-6")

[LightShadow62]

10:52 AM on 08/10/2010

Didn't they report weeks ago that the relief well was less than 50 feet from being finished?

[QuidamHP]

11:19 AM on 08/10/2010

The RW is 4.5' horizontal­ly from the well. The drill pipe was backed outand the bottom of the RW was cemented while the capping stack was tested and the static kill conducted

[powerlift2201]

10:43 AM on 08/10/2010

"Allen is planning a three-day trip to Louisiana, Mississipp­i and Alabama this week to talk with local officials about how to speed up cleanup efforts as the peak of hurricane season approaches­."

How do people speed up a clean up process for something that's going to take years and more likely decades to actually clean up?

[justaconcernedcitizen]

12:15 PM on 08/10/2010

they get started sooner?

[leftcoastindy]

10:33 AM on 08/10/2010

3 miles below minus 2 miles below does not equal 5 miles .

Just 'FIX IT'

[justaconcernedcitizen]

12:16 PM on 08/10/2010

3 + 2 = 5

[GeorgeMilquetoast]

02:05 PM on 08/10/2010

3 miles from the surface. 2 miles beneath the sea floor. Sea surface is one mile above the sea floor. All of these statements are consistent with the same location. It ain't 5 miles.