Sat, Jul 17, 2010 page1

• BP stems Gulf oil flow for first time since April

  • AFP
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  BP halted the Gulf of Mexico leak for the first time in three months yesterday, raising hopes in the White House and among devastated coastal communities of an end to the worst oil disaster in US history.

  While US President Barack Obama and BP warned against celebrating before tests are completed, news that all three valves on a giant cap had been shut was a ray of light for residents of the seaboard whose livelihoods have been ravaged.

  The announcement was made by BP senior vice president Kent Wells shortly after company engineers shut down the last of three valves on the cap placed on the blown-out well at about 2:25pm on Thursday.

  

  A combination photo shows the BP oil leak in images taken from BP live video on May 26, 2010 (top L), June 1, 2010 (top R), July 13, 2010 and on July 15, 2010 (bottom R) after the leak was contained. BP Plc said it shut its gushing Gulf of Mexico oil leak on Thursday as part of a key pressure test, marking the first time since the spill began in late April that it has stopped the flow into the sea.

  PHOTO: REUTERS

  “I'm very excited to see no oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico,” Wells told reporters, but cautioned it was only the start of a painstaking testing process set to last 48 hours to analyze the condition of the underground wellbore.

  Obama, whose administration has led pressure on BP to stop the oil flow, welcomed the news as “a positive sign,” but cautioned: “We're still in the testing phase.”

  Teeming fishing grounds have been closed and tourists have been scared away — two vital economic lifelines for the southern region still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

  Endangered wildlife has also been increasingly threatened by huge ribbons of oil fouling the shores of five states — Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The clean-up is likely to last years.

  The tests are intended to determine whether the wellbore, which stretches 4km below the seabed, was damaged during a blow-out on the rig.

  BP is hoping to choke off the oil flow from the well, estimated at between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels a day, but doing so from the top could force oil out in new leaks if the wellbore was damaged.

  During the test, engineers will take multiple readings from the 9m capping stack placed on top of the wellhead on Monday to monitor the pressure inside.

  High pressure readings would allow the three valves to remain shut and the well would effectively be sealed, but low readings could mean there is a hole somewhere in the casing of the well where oil is escaping.

  After 48 hours, the engineers will open up the system again and begin capturing the oil through two surface vessels to allow a new seismic survey to be carried out, said the official in charge of the US response, Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen.

  A final solution to the leak is not expected before the middle of next month, when crews will complete the first of two relief wells, allowing the oil reservoir to be permanently plugged in a “kill” operation.

  The disaster began on April 20 when the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded 80km off the coast of Louisiana, killing 11 workers. Two days later, the still blazing rig sank to the bottom of the Gulf.

  Local officials who have since seen their coasts sullied by the oil were cautious, but hopeful.

  Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu described the stoppage as “the first piece of good news the Gulf Coast has received in three months.”

  Still “it is too early to declare victory and there is still a lot more work that needs to be done. The next 48 hours will be critical as they test the pressure of the well and ensure the cap is working properly,” Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said.

  “We have been fighting a war against this oil for months now and we know our battles don't end even when the well is capped,” Jindal said.
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