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UPDATE 1-BP relief wells on target for August - Allen
* Relief wells ahead of schedule, August still finish date
* Oil-capture systems handle 25,154 barrels Thursday (Updates with details, quotes, adds byline)
By Kristen Hays
HOUSTON, July 2 (Reuters) - The first of two relief wells seen as the most promising way to plug the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is close to its target but drilling will be slow and precise in coming weeks, the U.S. official overseeing the spill response said on Friday.
"I'm reluctant to tell you it will happen before the middle of August," Thad Allen, a retired U.S. Coast Guard Admiral, told reporters.
The well, which began drilling on May 2, is ahead of schedule, Allen and energy giant BP Plc (BP.L)(BP.N) said. Both have consistently said that well and a second one that began drilling on May 16 would be finished in August.
BP said the first relief well is less than 20 feet (6 metres) from the side of its blown-out Macondo well, which has been spewing oil from the seabed a mile (1.6 km) below the surface of the Gulf since April 20.
The relief well has bored 12,446 (3.8 km) feet beneath the seabed, Allen and BP said. The leaking well is 13,000 feet deep and BP's plan calls for the relief well to drill further down, parallel to the blown-out well, and intercept it at the bottom.
Once intercepted, BP intends to pump in heavy drilling fluid to stop the oil flow and then cement to plug the leak.
The second relief well has bored 8,792 feet beneath the seabed, BP said. It is a backup for the first relief well.
As the relief well nears it target, there has been speculation the leak could be plugged earlier than August.
Tudor Pickering Holt & Co, a Houston energy investment boutique, said in a note to investors Friday that barring weather-related delays, "relief well intersection could occur as early as late July" -- two weeks ahead of schedule.
Allen said the August target date remains. He said drilling will stop every 20 feet or so to allow BP to use sensors to make sure the relief well is on the right path.
BP said earlier its oil-capture systems at the leak collected or burned off 25,154 barrels of oil on Thursday. (Editing by John O'Callaghan)
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These relief wells are not without danger, as the zone is an extreme pressure one and a sudden loss of drilling mud could result in another blow out from one or both of them.
What is needed is to shut off the present leak allowing plugging the present leaking well. The method they are using now had no precedent for its method to seal leaks. That means there are no parts that fit with the irregular riser cut off and there is no screw type compression with the wobbly thing sitting on top that was once knocked off by a little robot and then replaced.
I read today that there is a little less oil collected because the wobbly thing is bouncing up and down allowing more oil to leak.
If your local plumber fixed a pipe leak like this you would not pay him and fire him… and possibly sue him.
For awhile I saw reports of an “overshot tool” being considered that was to be bolted and was very happy that anything that fit and was bolted could work… like any other leak repair.
I found yesterday’s update by Admiral Allen and he said they have not decided on the new “overshot tool” cap yet and his description is not at all like what I read about the “overshot tool.” I thought it was two clamps and a cap that fit the round top of the BOP flanges to use the ages old method of 1. parts that fit and 2. compression by screw mechanism to hold in the internal pressure.
What is describes now is merely removing the existing riser pipe stub by unbolting the flange bolted to the top of the BOP and replacing it with a new riser cap using the same type bolting to the riser top that will have to be removed.
This opens up Pandora’s Box of the interior of the BOP to gush much much more oil than is leaking now, right at the point where using new bolts nuts or whatever screw mechanism is right at the point of the leaking.
This makes reattachment extremely difficult as Admiral commented about. The oil leaking would be extreme then and reattachment might not work making matters much much worse.
I thought that method would be very risky before and suggested “not removing anything” but just play safe by using my overshot that had a large upper clamp that incorporated the overshot… and attaching that to another lower clamp below that attached below the last upper flange of the BOP using U shaped plates to slip sideways below the flange or by using a hinged clamp like a huge Pipe Tongs.
Then bolting the two clamps together to compress the soft metal lined upper cap overshot to the top of the BOP would be easy with no leaking oil to block the view. The soft metal lined tapered cap would mold to the circular part that is there now… without removing anything.
The compression will then be enough to seal the leak and hold it there once things are tightened. See my drawing by highlight and paste in browser:
http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af122/alkanalkan/BP-Fix-It.jpg?t=1277656919
BP replied to my suggestion that they were considering a similar method.
There is nothing removed other than lifting off the flimsy thing they are using now that needed to be bolted to something… but that wouldn’t work because it does not allow for screw compression and it does fit anything that would seal now, even if it did.
This is total madness. It will be a miracle if their stupid dangerous plan works.
Why not just encapsulate the parts you have now… like my idea using parts that fit and screw compression to shut off the leak and hold it firm… all without opening up the interior of the messed up BOP
Stopping the leak now has been available since the interior of the BPO failed at the very first.
A BOP with a wide top flange and bolt holes… would have allowed a cap that fits to be lowered and bolted in a matter of hours if or USA oil and gas regulatory agency required proper BOPs. Then there would be no gusher for months and months.
How in the World does this sad sad stupidity continue? Why is there no one used by Admiral Allen to advise him about simple repair methods? Why does BP not use parts that fit and screw compression to stop this GUSHER NOW!
I love Alkan’s solution, for a fix instead of a work around.
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