BP: Rough Seas May Delay Third Oil Containment Rig By A Week

28th Jun 2010 16:36

By Brian Baskin Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW ORLEANS (Dow Jones)--Tropical Storm Alex may delay BP PLC's (BP, BP.LN) plans to increase the amount of oil collected from a leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico by a week, a company official said Monday. The storm's winds are expected to stay far to the west of the spill, but high seas are likely to become an issue this week, said Kent Wells, a senior vice president with BP, in a press briefing. Waves up to between 10 and 12 feet would prevent BP from hooking a third rig up to an underwater containment system, a process that needs three days of good weather, Wells said. Two rigs, the Discoverer Enterprise and Q4000, are already collecting between 20,000 and 25,000 barrels of oil a day from the well, which has gushed ever since a rig working at the site caught fire and sank in April. The addition of a third rig, the Helix Producer, is expected to raise the amount of oil siphoned off to between 40,000 and 50,000 barrels a day, BP has said. Alex's waves won't disrupt the drilling of relief wells aimed at cutting off the flow of oil more than two miles below the sea floor, Wells said. One drilling rig has come to within 20 feet of the leaking well, and BP is conducting tests in preparation for a final push. The well, already 16,770 feet below the surface, will be drilled another 900 feet before cutting across. Heavy drilling fluids will then be pumped down into the hole to seal off the leak. The process is expected to be completed in early August, 90 days after drilling began, Wells said. -By Brian Baskin, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2453; [email protected] Order free Annual Report for BP plc Visit http://djnewswires.ar.wilink.com/?link=BP or call 1-888-301-0513 (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 28, 2010 11:36 ET (15:36 GMT)