US Gulf relief well blowout preventer installed; second well spudded
Los Angeles (Platts)--18May2010/553 am EDT/953 GMT
The US Minerals Management Service said Monday the first relief well being drilled to intersect BP's blown-out Macondo prospect well in the Gulf of Mexico has had the blowout preventer installed on the wellhead, with "functional tests" now under way.
The agency also said the second relief well spudded Monday morning and "has progressed hundreds of feet into the seafloor," according to a statement released by the Joint Information Center.
BP executive Doug Suttles said earlier Monday the company aims to complete the first well by August. The aim of the relief wells is to allow BP to permanently plug and abandon the original Macondo exploration well.
"We have no intention of producing this well," Suttles said.
That well, about 40 miles from Venice, Louisiana, erupted in a blowout April 20, sinking Transocean's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and creating an oil spill that continues to threaten the Gulf Coast from Florida to Louisiana.
In addition to the relief wells, BP is using a mile-long siphon inserted into the riser at the site of the blowout to capture at least part of the flow of oil there. Also, the company aims to stop the leak by clogging the well's malfunctioning blowout preventer by the end of the week or into the weekend.
--Lisa Miller, lisa_miller@platts.com
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