UPDATE: BP Suspends Relief-Well Activity Due To Weather

23rd Jul 2010 08:56

(Adds U.S. National Hurricane Center weather advisory information, context and background.) By Leia Parker Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LONDON (Dow Jones)--British oil major BP PLC (BP) said Friday it will temporarily suspend relief-well activities aimed at permanently shutting its damaged deep-water Gulf of Mexico well as Tropical Storm Bonnie is forecast to bring bad weather to the area. The damaged well remains shut in, as it has been for integrity testing over the past seven days, BP said in a statement. The duration of the relief-well's suspension depends on the weather, it said. BP's cap atop the damaged well at the Macondo prospect is keeping up to 60,000 barrels of oil a day from flowing into the Gulf. The well blew out April 20, killing 11 and unleashing the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. At 0706 GMT, BP shares fell 1.3%, or 5 pence, to 395 pence after the company said it's suspending the relief-well activities. BP's statement Friday followed a U.S. government order Thursday evening to evacuate a drilling rig working to intercept the damaged Macondo well. The federal response commander, retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, said the move may delay efforts to kill the well for several days. Allen said the safety risks of continuing operations when Tropical Storm Bonnie is tracking toward the oil spill site off the coast of Louisiana were too great, and many vessels working on oil recovery must also move out of harm's way. He reiterated earlier comments, however, that BP's cap on the broken well will be left in place to prevent oil from again gushing into the Gulf. Allen said he directed BP to ensure the vessels controlling the remotely operated vehicles are last to leave and first to return to the site in order to maximize monitoring of the well. The Coast Guard is also taking steps to make sure a storm surge doesn't push oil-containment booms onto the shoreline, further damaging the environment. BP officials said Thursday the spill response could be delayed by 10-14 days if the government had to issue an evacuation order. Drilling of the relief well had been expected to intersect the damaged well by late July. An alternative proposal to kill the well by flooding it with drilling mud from the surface also will be postponed. BP officials said late Thursday that they received permission from Allen to start preparing for that method, dubbed "static kill." The U.S. National Hurricane Center early Friday said Tropical Storm Bonnie was affecting portions of the northwestern Bahamas. Tropical storm warnings were in effect for the central and northwestern Bahamas and in Florida. The NHC also warned of possible storm watches later Friday for the northern Gulf Coast. A tropical storm warning means tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area within 36 hours. Bonnie's center is expected to pass near or over the Florida Keys and the southern Florida peninsula later Friday and move into the eastern Gulf of Mexico Friday night and Saturday, the NHC advisory said. Bonnie was upgraded to a tropical storm from a tropical depression Thursday, meaning its winds had increased to at least 39 miles per hour. Gale force winds could reach the oil-spill site by Saturday morning, Allen said. -By Leia Parker, Dow Jones Newswires, [email protected], +44 20 7842 9260 (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 23, 2010 03:56 ET (07:56 GMT)