Status Report On The Relief Wells Being Drilled To Halt The Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill - NOLA.com

[WillyT]

Status report on the relief wells being drilled to halt the Gulf of Mexico oil spill
Dan Swenson, The Times-Picayune
Published: Friday, June 18, 2010, 9:06 AM Updated: Friday, June 18, 2010, 9:08 AM

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BP is drilling two relief wells, a primary and a backup, in the Gulf of Mexico. The plan is for the primary relief well to intersect with the blown-out Macondo well at about 18,000 feet beneath the water's surface, or 13,000 feet beneath the sea floor, and pump it with mud and cement to shut it. If it fails, the backup well would take over.

The relief wells are BP's final option to contain or stop the oil escaping from its Macondo well. The oil gusher has persisted since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank April 20, killing 11 people.

The relief wells start at about a half-mile from the accident and will try to meet the original well at a diagonal.

The first well has now been drilled to "just under" 16,000 feet, BP spokesman Tristan Vanhegan said. The second is at 9,778 feet.

"They're starting to close in on the well," Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said. "The last thousand feet is a slower process and has to be very exact."

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Link: http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/06/status_report_on_the_relief_we.html

[tekisui]

1. THey stopped drilling the second one a while back. Did they start again?

http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article216214.ece

BP has stopped drilling one of the relief wells to intercept the blown out Macondo bore so it can ready the rig's blowout preventer (BOP) to go on top of the crippled Macondo BOP.

Transocean boss Steve Newman told analysts today that Transocean semi-submersible rig Development Driller II had stopped drilling while BP tries a top kill to try to halt the flow of the Macondo well.

BP spokesman David Nicholas told UpstreamOnline that the rig was stopped so its BOP would be ready if needed.

"The (Developmen Driller II) has temporarily suspended drilling operations in preparation for the possible future deployment of its BOP on top of the (Macondo) BOP," he told UpstreamOnline in an email response.

[jaxx]

2. Good graphic.

Thanks for the info. I'd heard they are drilling on the 2nd RW again. Let's hope this works and shuts down that monster.