BP conducted vital tests yesterday as it prepared to plug the Gulf of Mexico oil well, while coastal residents awaited the green light anxiously after more than three months of uncertainty and frustration.
Before the static kill bid can go ahead, engineers first had to inject oil through the cap on top of the well to make sure there would be no problem when they pump in heavy drilling mud today.
“Today we will do the injectivity tests, we’ll look at that information, make any adjustments to how and if we move forward with the static kill tomorrow,” said BP senior vice president Kent Wells.
The static kill, which could run into tomorrow, will not go ahead if tests showed the oil couldn’t be forced back down into the reservoir, but Mr Wells said: “We’re not anticipating that.”
Once the heavy drilling mud is holding down the oil, a crucial decision must be taken on whether to cement the well straight away from the top or wait for a relief well to be completed.
The latter option would mean a delay of more than a week as the relief well is not expected to intercept the stricken Macondo well until some time between August 11 and 15, assuming no additional weather or procedural delays.
The Macondo well has spewed noxious crude into the sea since the Deepwater Horizon rig sank in April, devastating fragile habitats and bringing financial ruin to many residents along the US Gulf Coast.
More than 100 days into the spill, Americans are desperate for the well to be permanently sealed so the full focus can shift to clean-up operations and repairing the economic damage caused by the worst oil disaster in US history.
Somewhere between three million to 5.3 million barrels leaked into the Gulf between April 22 and July 15, when a cap placed over the wellhead fully contained the flow of oil for the first time.
While locals are eager to see the well plugged for good, there are fears that a successful kill operation will prompt a mass exodus of officials brought into the region to respond to the crisis.
Crews have already begun collecting some of the millions of feet of protective boom after skimming vessels said they were having difficulty finding spilled crude on the sea surface anymore.
BP, which leased the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and sparking the spill, has sought to reassure residents it will remain engaged and work to restore the area.
“There’s still a lot to do,” BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles told reporters Sunday. “I know people are worried about that, will we pack up and go, and the answer is clearly ‘No, we’re not going to do that’.”
Many fishermen whose grounds were closed in the wake of the spill due to food safety concerns have found work assisting the clean-up effort but face an uncertain future.
They could soon lose their jobs again as there is less oil to mop up and there are no guarantees they will be able to return to fish soon in Gulf waters that could be contaminated for months or even years to come.
Concerns about chemical dispersants sprayed into the Gulf to help the oil dissipate deepened on Saturday when the US Congress released documents suggesting their use could have been more widespread than feared.
“BP carpet-bombed the ocean with these chemicals, and the Coast Guard allowed them to do it,” said Democratic Representative Edward Markey, chairman of the House energy and environment subcommittee.
BP and the US response team have said more than 1.8 million gallons of dispersants have been used to break up the oil, but Mr Markey said studies show the amount could be far higher.
“The validity of those numbers are now in question,” he said.
US spill chief Thad Allen addressed the concerns on Sunday, telling reporters he was “satisfied that dispersants were only used when needed”, and saying the decision on when to use them had been for US officials and not BP.