Final Plug for BP Well Is Pushed Back

We are saw the Final Plug for BP Well Is Pushed Back

It might be mid-September before BP PLC puts the final plug in its blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico, a federal official said, or roughly a month later than initially expected.

Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who is overseeing the government response to the oil spill, said Thursday BP will first attempt to replace the blowout preventer, a key piece of equipment that sits on the seabed, to prevent oil leaks during the plugging operation. He said the last step would be pushed back to "the week after Labor Day," which falls on Sept. 6 this year.

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The postponement, caused partly by weather delays, is frustrating for both BP and the government, which are eager to bring a close to the Gulf disaster. No oil has been leaking into the sea since July 15, when BP installed a new, tight-fitting cap on the well. But federal officials have made it clear that the well won't be declared dead until a "bottom kill" has been carried out to seal it from below.

BP's well blew out April 20, killing 11 people, destroying the Deepwater Horizon rig and triggering the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The government has estimated that some 4.9 million barrels of oil were released into the Gulf during the spill. BP has been drilling a relief well since May, which was expected to intercept the ruptured well by mid-August. Once it hits its target, mud and cement will be pumped in to cap the well from the bottom.

The operation has been delayed over concerns about the 1,000 barrels of oil that have been trapped in the well ever since the cap was installed at the top last month. Engineers fear that flooding the well with mud could increase pressure in the annulus, the area between the well casing and the surrounding rock formation, forcing off the seal at the top of the well and discharging the trapped oil into the Gulf. The oil, if released, also could damage the blowout preventer and compromise the capping equipment on the well. A new blowout preventer would be better able to withstand the pressure and prevent the oil from leaking, Adm. Allen said.

For that to happen, BP must first finish a pressure test, which involves flushing the blowout preventer with seawater to ascertain there are no leaks of oil or gas. The test started Thursday morning and will take 48 hours, Adm. Allen said. BP will then try to remove the drill pipe contained in the well.

Adm. Allen said care would be taken not to damage the old blowout preventer as it is retrieved from the seabed, since it is "material evidence" in the investigations being conducted into the causes of the Deepwater Horizon disaster by the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

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