http://www.washingtontimes.com/
By Harry R. Weber
Associated Press
Updated: 2:56 p.m. on Wednesday, September 15, 2010
KENNER, La. (AP) – The U.S. government’s point man on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill said Wednesday that BP’s blown-out well is expected to be sealed permanently and declared dead by Sunday, nearly five months after a rig explosion set off the disaster.
Retired U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident commander, told reporters gathered at a seafood distributor in Kenner that a relief well is expected to intersect the blown-out well within 24 hours. He said workers then will pump in mud and cement, which is expected to seal the well within four days.
“We are within a 96-hour window of killing the well,” Adm. Allen said.
The April 20 explosion killed 11 workers and led to 206 million gallons of oil spewing from the deepwater well.
No fresh oil has spewed into the Gulf since a temporary cap was successfully fitted to the top of the well in mid-July. Mud and cement later were pushed down through the top of the well, allowing the cap to be removed. The relief well is being drilled so the well that blew out also can be sealed from the bottom, ensuring that it never causes a problem again.
Appearing with Adm. Allen, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief Jane Lubchenco said that monitoring continues of oil that remains in the Gulf. Ms. Lubchenco stood by earlier government estimates that 50 percent of the oil that spilled is gone from the water system.
Scientists said earlier this week that they had found thick patches of oil coating the sea floor, raising questions about government conclusions that much of the oil from the spill was gone. Testing is under way this week for chemical fingerprints that would conclusively link that oil to the BP spill.
Still, Adm. Allen and Ms. Lubchenco sought to reassure hesitant diners from outside the region that Gulf seafood is safe to eat during their appearance outside the Louisiana Fish House. Adm. Allen noted that he has eaten Gulf seafood every day for the past several days.
“In short, folks want to know if it is safe to eat, swim and fish, and that is the kind of information we are committed to identifying answers to those questions,” Ms. Lubchenco said.
Gulf shrimpers currently are producing only 20 percent of their normal production for this time of year – because demand is down sharply and because supply is not where it should be in part because of the fact that some shrimpers are wary of taking on the expense of fishing if they can’t sell their catch, according to Ewell Smith, executive director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board.
Adm. Allen also said he plans to step down as incident commander on Oct. 1 – the same day BP PLC installs American Bob Dudley as its new chief executive to replace Tony Hayward. Adm. Allen will be replaced by Coast Guard Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft. The move is not a surprise: Adm. Allen said previously that he would transition out of his current rule by late September or early October.
Adm. Allen said in an interview after the news conference that the timing of the transition is not connected to BP’s leadership change.
“I worked well with Tony Hayward, and I work well with Bob Dudley,” Adm. Allen said. “I like to think I work well with anybody.”
BP is the majority owner of the well that blew out, and it was leasing the rig that exploded from owner Transocean Ltd.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
September 15, 2010
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
With BP close to intercepting its stricken Gulf of Mexico well with a relief well, the government said Wednesday that the final sealing of the once-gushing well might occur this weekend.
Thad W. Allen, the retired Coast Guard admiral who is leading the federal response effort, said in a briefing in Kenner, La., that the relief well was within 25 feet of the interception point, nearly 13,000 feet below the seabed. Drilling resumed on Monday after being suspended for several weeks while the company replaced pressure-control equipment atop the well.
Once the interception occurs, engineers will assess the condition of the stricken well’s annulus, the space between the casing pipe and the surrounding rock. Admiral Allen said it was expected that a decision would then be made to pump cement into the annulus to create a final seal.
“Four days from now, it could be all done,” he said.
The well leaked an estimated 4.9 million barrels, or about 205 million gallons, of oil into the gulf after the Deepwater Horizon drill rig exploded and sank in late April. No appreciable amount of oil or gas has leaked since July 15, when valves on a newly installed cap at the wellhead were closed.
Joint Investigation – RMI letter re DWH documentation
The Joint Investigation of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) marine casualty posted a copy of the letter received from the Maritime Administrator of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) relating to documentation of the DWH. The letter states that, while the erroneous document issued to the DWH might have allowed it to not have a master on board when the unit was “on location”, the evidence shows that the DWH had both a master and an offshore installation manager (OIM) on board at all times relevant to the investigation. (9/14/10).
National Commission – meeting
The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, sponsored by the Department of Energy, will conduct an opening meeting in Washington, DC on September 27 and 28. Topics on the agenda include the response following the oil spill, impacts on the Gulf, and approaches to long-term restoration. 75 Fed. Reg. 56526 (September 16, 2010).
House – bill introduced to restore Gulf coastal areas
Representative Scalise (R-LA) introduced the Gulf Coast Restoration Act (H.R. 6112) to provide for restoration of the coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and for other purposes. (9/14/10).
House – bill introduced re use of dispersants in oil spills
Representative Pallone (D-NJ) introduced a bill (H.R. 6119) to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to ensure the safe and proper use of dispersants in the event of an oil spill or release of hazardous substances, and for other purposes. Official text of this bill is not yet available. (9/14/10).
House – bill introduced re export and import of natural gas
Representative Wu (D-OR) introduced a bill (H.R. 6124) to amend certain provisions of the Natural Gas Act relating to exportation or importation of natural gas, and for other purposes. Official text of this bill is not yet available. (9/14/10).
Courtesy: Bryant’s Maritime Blog – 16 September 2010
BP ending oil-spotting program in 3 Gulf states
Posted on Thursday, September 16th, 2010 at 12:00 am.
By Associated Press
MOBILE (AP) – BP is ending the program that hired coastal boats to scout for oil in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi during the Gulf of Mexico spill.
Administrators in Mobile said Wednesday they were shutting down the vessel of opportunity program in the three states. It continues operating in coastal Louisiana, where officials say oil is still hitting the shore.
BP calls the program highly successful, although it was widely criticized during the summer for hiring recreational boats and out-of-state craft while some local commercial boats sat idle.
The company says almost 3,500 boats worked in the program, which cost some $500 million across the Gulf region. Boat operators both looked for oil on the coast and helped in the cleanup by skimming for oil and deploying oil barriers.
Houston Business Journal – September 16, 2010
/houston/stories/2010/09/13/daily35.html
Thursday, September 16, 2010, 7:45am CDT | Modified: Thursday, September 16, 2010, 7:45am
Transocean sued by Louisiana over Gulf oil spill
Houston Business Journal
Transocean Ltd. and subsidiary Triton Asset Leasing GmbH are being sued by the state of Louisiana, according to news reports.
The state is asking a federal judge out of New Orleans to rule that Transocean (NYSE: RIG) be liable for damages resulting from the Gulf oil spill.
In the filing, the state said: “The state has incurred and will continue to incur costs and certain damages including cleanup and removal costs, costs of increased public services, loss of state revenue, property damages and natural resource damages.”
For now, the state is only seeking for Transocean to be deemed liable. It is not yet seeking to recover any costs or damages.
Transocean has maintained responsibility only for oil that may have leaked from its Deepwater Horizon rig, which was leased by BP Plc when it exploded on April 20, killing 11 people and resulting in the largest oil spill in U.S. history.
But the state of Louisiana argues that the company violated state and federal environmental laws, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“Transocean’s denial of liabilityŠis also at odds with the State of Louisiana as it affects Louisiana’s ability to seek recovery of costs and damages related to this oil spill from the responsible parties,” it said in the filing.
Switzerland-based Transocean has a significant presence in Houston.
On Wednesday, the company pulled a second rig out of the Gulf of Mexico due to the federal moratorium on deepwater drilling.
The Houston Business Journal is providing continuous coverage of the Gulf oil spill.
Special thanks to Richard Charter