On June 5, the lower marine riser package (LMRP) containment cap, which was installed by BP PLC on the top of the Deepwater Horizon's damaged riser in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, had collected and transported 10,500 bbl of oil to the Discoverer Enterprise drillship. BP also said 22 MMscf of natural gas was collected and flared.
BP said that during June 3-5, the volume of oil collected was 16,600 bbl and 32.7 MMscf of gas was flared.
On June 3, BP worked to place the LMRP containment cap on the damaged riser, having used shears to cut the riser after a diamond-wire saw got stuck, a spill response spokesman said.
Crews using remotely operated vehicles in 5,000 ft of water freed the diamond-wire saw on June 2. They used shears to cut the riser from the top of the failed BOP. Earlier, the shears cut a section of the bent riser that was farther away from the BOP.
National Incident Comm. and Adm. Thad Allen said at the time he was optimistic that a LMRP containment cap could be placed on the cut riser, enabling the collection of leaking oil and gas to begin.
Allen said, "This is an irregular cut, it will be a little more challenging," to set the cap than it would have been if plans had worked for the diamond-wire saw to make a smoother, flat cut.
During a news conference from Louisiana, Allen said crews believe the diamond-wire saw became stuck when it encountered drill pipe inside the damaged riser pipe.
Cap in place
"Once the cap is on, there is some chance that some oil could escape," Allen said. "It could be close to none, it could be some," leaking out, he said, adding this only can be determined after the cap is placed.
The reservoir pressure is 9,000 psi, and the pressure of oil coming through the BOP is 3,500 psi, he said. The collected oil and gas will go into a smaller pipe, which could increase back pressure and cause oil to leak out around the seal.
Before the riser was cut, federal scientists estimated the flow rate of the spill could increase 20% between the time of the cut and the time that the cap was placed. A team of scientists had released preliminary findings showing the estimated flow rate is 12,000-19,000 b/d although it possibly could be 25,000 b/d (OGJ Online, May 27, 2010).
Allen said the Flow Rate Technical Group, which released the estimates, is continuing its work to come up with the most accurate estimates possible.
BP announced May 29 that its "top kill" operation had failed to stem the flow from the leaking well. Since then, crews moved to deploy a LMRP cap containment system to collect the leaking oil and gas until a relief well can reach 18,000 ft and permanently seal the well.
Oil collection plan
"Optimization continues and improvement in oil collection is expected over the next several days," BP said in a June 7 press release.
BP said it continues to make preparations for additional planned enhancements to the LMRP cap containment system. These enhancements include:
• The use of the hoses and manifold that were deployed for the top kill operation to take oil and gas from the failed Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer (BOP) through a separate riser to the Q4000 vessel on the surface. "This system is intended to increase the overall efficiency of the containment operation by possibly increasing the amount of oil and gas that can be captured from the well and is currently expected to be available for deployment in mid-June," BP said.
• The directing of oil and gas to a new free-floating riser ending 300 ft below sea level. "This long-term containment option is designed to permit more effective disconnection and reconnection of the riser to provide the greatest flexibility for operations during a hurricane and is expected to be implemented in early July," BP said.
In the meantime, work on the first relief well, which started May 2, continues and at presstime last week had reached a depth of 13,978 ft, BP said. The second relief well, which started May 16, was at 8,576 ft. Both wells are still estimated to take 3 months to complete from commencement of drilling.
Spill response efforts
BP noted that efforts continue to collect and disperse oil that has reached the sea's surface, to protect the shoreline, and to collect and clean up any oil that has reached shore.
At presstime last week, more than 3,600 vessels were involved in the response effort, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels. Operations to skim oil from the surface of the water had recovered a total of 383,000 bbl (16.1 million gal) of "oily liquid," BP said.
The total length of containment boom deployed as part of efforts to prevent oil from reaching the coast was more than 2.3 million ft, and an additional 2.7 million ft of sorbent boom also had been deployed, BP reported.
As of June 10, BP reported that 42,000 claims had been submitted and more than 20,000 payments already had been made, totaling more than $53 million. BP had received more than 173,000 calls into its help lines, the company said.
The cost of the response to date last week amounted to $1.43 billion, including the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs. This excludes the first $60 million in funds for the Louisiana barrier islands construction project, BP said, adding "It is too early to quantify other potential costs and liabilities associated with the incident."
Louisiana berms
Allen said federal officials authorized the state of Louisiana to dredge sand and construct temporary barrier islands in an effort to keep spilled oil out of the state's wetlands.
BP said it will pay $360 million for the cost to construct six sections of the barrier islands.
The company added that it will not manage or contract directly for the construction of the islands, and it will not assume any liability for unintended consequences of the project.
"BP is committed to implementing the most effective measures to protect the coastline of Louisiana and reduce the impact of the oil and gas spill," said Tony Hayward, BP Group chief executive officer.
Previously, BP provided $170 million to Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida to help with response costs and help promote tourism. The company also paid $42 million in claims to compensate individuals and companies affected by the spill.
Meanwhile, oil spill response crews on June 3 moved more boom to Alabama and Mississippi.
"The upper edge of the collection of spill is moving toward Florida," Allen said June 3, noting the oil slick and emulsified oil on the water's surface have broken into various pieces.
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