The volume of oil taken at the wellhead of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico should recover 28,000 b/d by early next week, says Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, national incident commander.
Offshore staff
NEW ORLEANS – The volume of oil taken at the wellhead of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico should recover 28,000 b/d by early next week, says Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, national incident commander. That volume covers both the Discover Enterprise and the more recent Q4000 operations.
The Enterprise continues drawing off the containment cap while the Q4000 is fed through the kill pipe used in the top kill containment effort.
Looking ahead, Allen said plans are to bring in additional vessels to draw oil off the choke and kill lines and that by the end of June recovery capacity could reach 53,000 b/d.
Following that, a new well cap with multiple lines feeding a larger processing vessel is targeted for installation to bring the production capacity to as much as 80,000 b/d by the end of July.
In that same time frame, Allen said, the Development Driller II relief well could reach the wellbore and kill the well from the bottom and cap the well. The relief drilling was below 9,000 ft under the seabed as of June 17. The Development Driller III also continues drilling at about 4,500 ft below the seabed.
