BP spill: Drilling ahead of schedule for first relief well

Drilling is ahead of schedule on the first of two relief wells aiming to kill the flow from the runaway Macondo well on Mississippi Canyon Block 252 in the Gulf of Mexico, BP PLC reports.

The relief well being drilled by the Development Driller III was within 200 ft of the Macondo well, Kent Wells, senior vice-president of exploration and production, said during a June 18 technical briefing. He noted the pace will slow as the relief well locates and closes in on the Macondo well.

"Things have gone well down to this phase," Wells said, adding that the scheduled completion of at least one of the two relief wells remains sometime in August. "We're just looking at getting this well killed as soon as possible," he said of the blowout well.

On June 18, the relief well being drilled by the Development Driller III was at 15,936 ft, Wells said. A second relief well, being drilled by the Development Driller II, was at about 10,000 ft.

An Apr. 20 blowout caused an explosion and fire on Transocean Ltd.'s Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible, killing 11 crew members.

On June 23, BP appointed Bob Dudley as president and chief executive officer of BP's Gulf Coast Restoration Organization, effective immediately. Dudley reports to BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward.

Collection efforts

On June 21, BP collected 25,836 bbl of oil on MC Block 252 using both the Discoverer Enterprise drillship and the Q4000 multiservice vessel. The combined maximum capacity for the Enterprise and Q4000 is 28,000 b/d, said National Incident Commander and retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen.

"That is a new record for us, and we continue to make progress in optimizing the capacity out of the wellhead there," Allen said on June 22.

BP's Wells said plans are proceeding to eventually remove the lower marine riser package cap now on the failed Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer (BOP). The LMRP cap likely will be replaced with a sealing valve cap. BP is considering three design options for the next cap.

A final decision on when to replace the LMRP cap is expected to be made in July at about the same time as BP installs floating riser systems that enable surface vessels to be disconnected and moved if a hurricane hits the gulf.

Allen said the first of two free-standing risers was being positioned on June 23. Wells said it was expected to be connected to the Helix Producer, a floating production unit, which will be connected to a tanker (OGJ, June 21, 2010, p. 29).

As a precaution, the LMRP cap temporarily was taken off the failed Deepwater Horizon BOP on June 23, Allen said.

As OGJ went to press last week, the incident was under investigation but it appeared a remotely operated vehicle accidently bumped into the LMRP cap and closed a vent, causing more pressure inside the riser.

At 8:45 a.m. CDT on June 23, a discharge of liquids was seen from the Discoverer Enterprise, BP said. Allen said the LMRP cap was removed while the safety of operations was evaluated.

Spill response crews reinstalled the LMRP cap at 6:30 p.m. CDT on June 23 Collection resumed at 7 p.m.

Removal of the LMRP cap allowed more oil to escape into the gulf while oil collection efforts are stopped on the Discoverer Enterprise drillship, Allen said.

However, oil continued to be collected and burned on the Helix Q4000 surface vessel. Oil directed to the Q4000 comes through the choke line of the BOP via a manifold on the seafloor and up a riser to the surface.