Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks
Re: Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster- Update on BP's attempt to stop the oil leaks
For Immediate Release
July 01, 2010
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and National Incident Commander Thad Allen, 7/1/2010
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
Excerpts:
It was an honor to serve in the United States Coast Guard for 39 years, and today I transition to a senior executive on Secretary Napolitano?s staff as I carry on my duties as a National Incident Commander.
So with that quick overview on what?s going on, as you know, the hurricane passed by, generated some swells and weather up towards the well site that required us to delay bringing onboard the third production vessel, the Helix Producer, which we thought we would have online by today. We will need about three days after the weather calms to less than three to five feet for that vessel to be able to hook up to the flexible coupling that it will be required to do. So we?re looking at somewhere around mid-week next week to bring the third production vessel online. It will bring our capacity up to 53,000 barrels per day.
In the 24-hour period that ended last night at midnight, we actually recovered 23,000 barrels. The Discovery Enterprise had to stop operations a couple of times due to lightning in the area. As you remember, we had a situation a few weeks ago where lighting struck the derrick and caused a fire. So there are some safety reasons why they might have to stop from time to time. And the Q4000 actually flared 8,200 barrels.
Regarding the relief wells, Development Driller III now is at a distance of 11,641 feet below the seafloor. As you know, they?re going through a series of operations which we call ranging.
They?re into their fourth cycle of this. In ranging, they withdraw the drill pipe and put down an electrical cable and actually try and sense the magnetic field around the wellbore. They are within around 15 feet of the wellbore at this point. They will continue down 700, 800 more feet, slowly close into the wellbore, and when they know they?ve got it exactly in range, know exactly where the drill pipe is in relation to the wellbore, then they will attempt to move in and drill through the wellbore and then the casing as well. At that point they?ll be in a position to be able to try the bottom kill or to be able to insert the mud, and hopefully after that, put a cement plug in that will kill the well.
Development Driller II is 6,720 feet below the seafloor and is making progress as well.
Our onshore and near-shore skimming and recovery operation has been significantly hampered by the weather. The small vessels that do the skimming have a difficult time operating out there; we had to pull them back. The same with the vessels operating in and around the well site itself.
The drilling rigs were able to continue, but we are now massing our forces to be able to move right back out once the weather will allow us to get on the water and skim. In some of the areas such as Barataria Bay and other places we were able to have back bay skimmers and actually make some progress there. But in general, waiting for the weather to abate so we can move on with recovery operations.
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Q There were some rumors in the financial markets today that the well had been capped, which is obviously not true. Is there any information that we haven?t gotten about progress --
...
ADMIRAL ALLEN: Nothing that I?m aware of. I would say this, as they get closer to the wellbore, getting into the position to make that final drilling into the wellbore and the casing itself, there is a chance -- slight chance -- they could nick the wellbore. Because of that, they have a vessel up there that?s full of mud waiting to be able to shoot it in if they have a problem there. But nothing to my knowledge.
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Q Admiral, what is the percentage chance that the relief well project is going to work? Is it close to 100 percent? And what do you think now -- can you pick a date and say when it is really going to happen?
ADMIRAL ALLEN: I?m not sure I?m willing to attach a percentage to anything we?re doing in this spill. I will tell you this. Contrary -- unlike some other things that have been done on the seabed out there at 5,000 feet -- you heard me say before, we?re doing something we?ve never done before. Relief wells are things that these companies have done before, not just BP, but all the companies. The methods they?re using, the technology they?re using, it?s all been proven in the water, on land.
So I think we have a little bit better basis by which to understand the potential for this to be successful. In fact, they?re not reinventing the wheel, if you will, it?s something they?ve done before.
We?ve mitigated the risk by having the second well be dug. I?ve had a lot of detailed briefings and I?ve discussed this quite in detail -- the technical issues associated with this ranging in how they do that, and this is a very precise method for locating that wellbore.
So I think we stand a good chance -- I?m not sure I?m going to put a number on it. The current goal is by mid-August. We?re slightly ahead of schedule. But I don?t think we ought to say -- we shouldn?t come off that mid-August date until we know they?ve actually gone through the wellbore.
Q But ?good chance? doesn?t sound very optimistic. It sounds like you?re --
ADMIRAL ALLEN: I?d rather under-promise than over-deliver with you folks. (Laughter.)
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Q A few weeks ago, one percentage figure that has been used by the President, and I believe you, Admiral Allen, was 90 percent -- a few weeks ago the President said that in a few weeks 90 percent of whatever it is, the gas and the oil, the carbons coming up from the floor, would be capped. Where are we on that? Ninety percent of what?
ADMIRAL ALLEN: Ninety percent of the flow coming out of the wellbore right now.
Q Which is what?
ADMIRAL ALLEN: Well, the current estimate is 35,000 to 60,000 barrels a day from the last flow rate estimate. Let me walk you through the sequence -- it?s a good question.
Right now we have three ways to remove oil from that wellbore -- the riser pipe that goes up to the Discovery Explorer [sic], and the choke and the kill lines -- those are the lines we tried to push mud down during the top kill exercise. We are taking oil out of two of those right now. We intend to take oil out of the third, the kill line, with the Helix Producer once the weather calms down. That will take us to a capacity of 53,000 barrels a day.
Now, we don?t know what that?s going to do to that picture you see of the imagery with the vents open and the oil. We would like to get that down to where there?s a minimum amount of oil escaping as possible. But it?s never going to be zero because if it goes to zero that means water could intrude and we?d have a hydrate problem with the capping device.
BP has proposed, and we are reviewing right now, the placement of a new cap on it, which would -- they would actually unbolt that stub section of pipe that was cut off. That?s what we call -- that wide area is called a flange -- actually unbolt the flange and actually put another containment device on that we bolted on that would ensure a complete seal. And when the President talks of achieving a greater than 90 percent recovery rate, he?s talking about with the new capping device.
They?ll be in a position to do that in about two to three weeks, and also provide redundant production capability on the surface -- it will take us to 60,000 to 80,000 barrels a day production capacity.
They did that at our direction because we wanted two things. We wanted redundancy, so if there?s lightning in the area and somebody has to shut down we could keep producing. We wanted additional flexibility to be able to unhook and hook up faster in the event of a hurricane. And we also wanted a risk mitigator against a complete failure.
Q So this new device would essentially replace the three that you have online or are about to have online?
ADMIRAL ALLEN: It would allow us to actually run four lines with the new cap, yes.
Q When will the President make the determination on when to approve that second cap?
ADMIRAL ALLEN: No decision like that is forthcoming right now. We?re technically reviewing all of those options right now.
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Full text at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press...gibbs-and-national-incident-commander-thad-al
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