BP May Return to Drilling in the Gulf
Now that the seems to have returned to normal, BP may start drilling in the same area again:
BP may drill again in the same undersea oil reservoir that spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, a company official said Friday.
"There's lots of oil and gas here," Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles told reporters during a news briefing. "We're going to have to think about what to do with that at some point."
When asked about Suttles' comments, retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said he was unaware of that potential. "It had not been raised to my level at this point," Allen said.
Suttles confirmed that the company plans to use a relief well to push mud and then cement into the underground reservoir, a day after the company finished plugging the well with cement from the top. Engineers are now monitoring the cement and aim to do a pressure test to make sure the well is sealed.
"All the indications so far look very encouraging," Suttles said.
BP also announced Friday that Suttles is returning to his role as chief operating officer in Houston and Mike Utsler will replace him as lead representative in the Unified Area Command in New Orleans.
The energy giant began the "static kill" at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday, and workers stopped pumping mud about eight hours after the effort achieved its "desired outcome."
A federal science report released this week indicated about three-quarters of the oil from the BP spill is gone. The report says most of the oil has been captured, skimmed or dispersed naturally or by chemicals, and that about 26% of the oil spill is unaccounted for. But some scientists question the accuracy of the report.
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