BP Starts `Static Kill’ On Gulf Well
Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 3, 2010
By Jim Polson and Katarzyna Klimasinska – Aug 3, 2010
BP Plc started plugging its Gulf of Mexico oil well with drilling mud, another step in the company’s effort to permanently seal the source of history’s worst accidental oil spill.
BP began pumping mud into the top of the well for its “static kill†operation at 3 p.m. local Houston time. The company may need “a bunch of hours to a couple of days†to complete the process, Senior Vice President Kent Wells told reporters during a conference call today. BP may pause the operation to measure pressure and determine where the mud is going, he said.
If the static kill is successful, BP would be able to plug the Macondo well from the top. The company still needs to complete a relief well to permanently kill the damaged well, National Incident Commander Thad Allen said at a Houston press conference.
Government scientists issued revised estimates yesterday that the well spewed 4.9 million barrels of oil, making it the largest accidental maritime oil spill. About 800,000 barrels of the oil was captured by BP, and some was skimmed or burned. Scientists expect to quantify within days how much oil remains in the Gulf, potentially in underwater plumes, Allen said.
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