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| quote: | BP: Well integrity test underway; no oil flowing
Oil stopped flowing into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time in nearly three months, as BP resumed a critical and repeatedly delayed integrity test Thursday of its well.
BP could not guarantee that no oil would be released throughout the duration of the test, which will continue for at least 6 hours and could last up to 48 hours.
"It felt very good not to see any oil go into the Gulf of Mexico," BP senior vice president Kent Wells told reporters during a Thursday afternoon technical update. "Clearly, I'm trying to maintain a strict focus but we are very encouraged."
Oil stopped gushing at 2:25 p.m., Wells said, when engineers closed the choke line.
During the test, the three ram capping stack is closed, shutting in the well. All containment systems, including the Q4000 and Helix Producer, have been temporarily stopped.
As a precaution, operations on the two relief wells have also been temporarily stopped while the test is underway, BP said.
"We are all interested in not bringing on any undue risks," Wells said, adding that he did not want to create a false sense of excitement since the test has just begun, "Let's do the test and see what it tells us."
BP delayed its well integrity test after finding a leak late Wednesday in the cap's "choke line," Wells told reporters during a Thursday morning technical briefing, adding the faulty line has been replaced with a new one.
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Crew members assist in skimming operations from the deck of the Pacific Responder oil skimming vessel in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana Wednesday.
CAPTION
By Patrick Semansky, AP
The U.S. government gave BP the green light Wednesday, after a previous 24-hour delay, to begin testing the Gulf well's pressure to see whether the new tighter-fitting cap could contain the leaking oil. The test could take from six to 48 hours.
National Incident Commander Thad Allen said the U.S. government insisted on extra checks to ensure no damage would occur when the cap, installed Monday, was closed and the well was shut in.
"We were taking due care, so we didn't do any irreversible harm to the well bore," Allen said, adding seismic test results showed no signs of an immediate problem and BP engineers satisfied concerns about how the well would react to increased pressure.
The integrity test involves slowly closing the cap's valves, entirely blocking the flow of oil. High pressure is a good sign, because it indicates a single leak whereas low pressure suggests multiple ones.
Wells said Wednesday that the cap's valves would be open if the well's pressure flatlines or drops. He said BP is "absolutely in control of this operation" but would consult every six hours with U.S. officials before proceeding further.
The best hope for permanently ending the leak comes from two relief wells that will plug it with mud and cement, as early as the end of July.
Since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers, the U.S. government estimates that between 90.4 and 178.6 million gallons of oil have spewed into the Gulf of Mexico.
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I'm no scientist, but it looks like they finally did it.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/07/gulf-well-test-delayed-/1?csp=hf
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