Deepwater Horizon: Static kill holding, attention shifts to relief well

Offshore staff

NEW ORLEANS– The static kill of BP’s Macondo blow-out in the Gulf of Mexico is holding and there are no leaks, said Admiral Thad Allen, national incident commander, and completion of the relief well is the next step.

“We were successful in cementing from the top down and the casing is filled,” Allen said at a press conference this morning, “now to finish the relief well and to cement from the bottom up. Once that is done we will shift completely” to recovery operations.

The Development Driller III has the relief well at TVD of 17,152 ft (5,228 m) with MD at 17,909 ft (5,459 m), Allen reported. Operations are to drill about 30 feet, then pull the bit and survey for the location of the well pipe before drilling further. Using that system, he said it could be the end of the week when the bottom kill operations begin. Drilling fluid and pumping vessels are on site awaiting the kill operations.



08/09/2010