Gulf Oil Spill Update

In a promising development, 11,100 barrels were collected via the Top Hat on Sunday, up marginally from the 10,500 barrels the day before. Clearly BP has underestimated the size of the spill, and had thought the 15,000 bbl/day capacity of the Discoverer Enterprise was adequate, but leaned it is not.

The Top Hat can be reasonably expected to flow more as relief ports on the Top Hat remain partially open. Another ship is en route to enable BP to capture up to 20,000 bbl/day combined.

If this works as expected, we will be in vastly better shape collecting the bulk of the oil leaking.

In the coming weeks, the two 3” mud kill lines will be reversed to flow oil and gas to the Q400, providing yet more capacity to collect the oil. This will be especially appreciated during the switch over to the next Top Hat being built, which will try to overcome the sealing issues due to the mangled Riser which was chomped off with the massive sheers and didn’t cut cleanly.

Besides providing a better seal, with less leakage, the Top Hat under construction will also feature a floating linkage, allowing for a rapid disconnect during a Hurricane and a quick re-connection. This minimising the time the well has to be allowed to spew freely during storms.