BP Gulf oil spill: Cap test delayed

The new cap

Almost four months after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded on 20 April, BP may be close to finally sealing off the leaking oil cap. However, the oil giant has announced it has delayed a key test on the newly installed well cap saying "further analysis was needed" before it could begin.

The ultimate aim is that the well will be "shut in" and the leak halted until relief wells plug it entirely, stopping the flow of oil into the Gulf. The test was meant to begin at the start of the week to make sure the new cap could sufficiently contain the oil leak but, speaking to the BBC, Coast Guard chief Admiral Thad Allen said the extra analysis would continue into Wednesday.

Once the test is undertaken, high pressure within the cap will show the oil has been contained inside the wellhead. However, if the tests show there is low pressure, it is an indication that oil is leaking elsewhere in the well.

While the cap is being tested, work will continue on the two relief wells.

"No promises can be made"

After the disastrous attempts to seal the leak in the past, including underwater submersibles knocking off a cap, BP Vice President Kent Wells has been coy about the success of the new cap.

He said he could make no promises whether it would work or not, adding, "it's not simple stuff. What we don't want to do is speculate around it."

If the test - which sees three separate valves tighten around the leaking cap - fails, ships on the surface will continue the task they have been doing since mid-April, collecting oil from the water.

"The sealing cap system has never before been deployed at these depths or under these conditions, and its efficiency and ability to contain the oil and gas cannot be assured," BP said in a statement. If the cap is unable to take the pressure, another pipe will be connected to the cap to take as much of the oil as possible to the ships.

While this will stop the leak, the well will still not actually be plugged - an operation that BP has said may not happen until mid-August when the relief wells are ready.

Relevant articles:

Oil spill latest: Newest estimates suggest 40,000 barrels | Oil spill cost past $1.6 billion, will get worse | NOAA confirms presence of subsea oil plumes in Gulf

Like this article? Get the RSS feed: