Tests to Determine if New Well Cap Will Halt Oil Flow
NEW ORLEANS — With the installation of a new cap on its runaway well in the Gulf of Mexico progressing smoothly, BP prepared on Monday to conduct tests to determine whether the flow of oil escaping from the well could be halted completely.
“The best-case scenario: the pressures rise to the point we anticipate they would,” Mr. Suttles said at a morning briefing on Monday. “We’d likely be able to keep the well shut in.”
On the other hand, the tests could show the pressure remaining lower than expected, which Mr. Suttles said would indicate a “problem with the integrity” of the well. In that case, he said, the valves would have to be reopened, oil would start escaping from the well again, and the collection systems would have to be turned back on.
That would remain the case until the company could complete work on relief wells to stop the leak and permanently seal the well. That operation is not expected to be finished until the end of July or August at the earliest.
In other words, it’s not over yet. BP is still trying to make everything sound positive.