Reply #9: Static kill' appears to be working, BP says

[ozymandius]

Houston, Texas (CNN) -- A long-awaited procedure to permanently seal BP's crippled well in the Gulf of Mexico appears to be working and is being monitored, the oil giant announced early Wednesday.

The well-killing procedure, which began Tuesday afternoon, involves pumping heavy drilling mud down from above to push oil back into the well reservoir.

"The well pressure is now being controlled by the hydrostatic pressure of the drilling mud, the desired outcome of the static kill procedure," a BP statement said. "The pumping of heavy drilling mud was stopped after about eight hours of pumping drilling mud down the well. The well is now being monitored, per the procedure, to ensure the well remains static."

In the static kill operation, it's still unclear whether the mud will be followed by cement, according to BP Senior Vice President Kent Wells. Engineers will evaluate that as they proceed. They may decide to wait until a relief well is completed in an accompanying well-killing effort known as a "bottom kill" -- intended to serve as an insurance policy that the well is sealed. That could happen about a week from now.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/04/gulf.oil.spill/?hpt=T1