BP: Close To Installing Cap Over Well, Could Be Done This Morning

12th Jul 2010 14:33

By Susan Daker Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES HOUSTON (Dow Jones)--BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) plans to install a new sealing cap Monday morning that could contain all of the oil spewing from the well as part of the U.K. oil giant's latest effort to the stop leak in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the company's chief operating officer said. "We have to recognize that this is a complex operation," Doug Suttles, COO of BP said during a teleconference. "Our confidence is growing." Once the cap is installed, the company will perform a series of pressure tests to ascertain the wellbore's integrity, Suttles said. If the pressure is high that would be positive news meaning the integrity of the well is good and that the cap is collecting all of the oil, Suttles said. If the pressure is low that means oil is escaping the cap and the leak is not fully contained, he said. In that case, the company would have to rely on its containment ships to continue to produce oil from the well. Although, so far the company's plan to install a new cap over the well has hit only one reported minor hiccup, BP continues to wrestle with the start-up of a new containment vessel, the Helix Producer. The Helix Producer ship has been near the well for about two weeks. At first it was delayed from starting-up because of bad weather. Over the weekend the sea calmed but technical problems have now set back its start-up date. On Sunday, the company said the ship would be collecting oil by the end of the day. However, on Monday morning, Suttles said the vessel still isn't operational but could be in the next 24 hours. With the Helix Producer unable to work that means, only one ship is siphoning oil from the well. The Q4000, which is located on the surface near the well, flared off more than 4,000 barrels of oil on Sunday, Suttles said. The rest of the oil is flowing into the Gulf but there is a team of about 50 skimmers working to catch the oil when it reaches the surface from the leak, which is a mile below, Suttles said. Federal and independent scientists have estimated that between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels of oil have flowed into the Gulf from the broken well each day. BP has been working to contain the leak for more than 12 weeks after Transocean Ltd.'s (RIG) Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank, unleashing the spill that has fouled the coasts of at least four states and killed sea creatures and birds. For the past several weeks, the more loosely fitting cap and the Q4000 system have managed to keep up to about 25,000 barrels of oil a day out of the Gulf. The new sealing cap-system, plus additional measures, will allow the recovery of 60,000 barrels to 80,000 barrels a day in two to three weeks, BP has said. -By Susan Daker, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9208 (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 12, 2010 09:33 ET (13:33 GMT)