relief well News

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Relief Well Completed; BP Readies 'Final Kill'

(Sept. 17) -- A relief well 18,000 feet below the Gulf of Mexico's seabed has finally intersected BP's blown-out oil well, setting the stage for engineers to permanently seal the rupture by the end of the weekend. By Sunday, the fix could close out the final chapter in the five-month saga of the world's worst-ever...

Why Is BP Delaying the Bottom Kill Operation Till September?

(Aug. 20) -- National Incident Commander Thad Allen said Thursday that BP's unruly well won't be killed once and for all until September. Original estimates had planned for the bottom kill -- which will kill the well for good -- to take place this month. At several points, emergency crews were even said to be ahead of...

Gulf Relief Well Driller Plans to Light Up Cigar After Job Is Done

NEW ORLEANS (Aug. 15) -- The man with pinpoint accuracy who is drilling the relief well meant to plug BP's runaway well is looking forward to finishing his mission and celebrating with a cigar, a dinner party with his crew and a trip somewhere quiet to unwind with his wife. John Wright has never missed his target over the...

Drilling on Relief Wells to Continue: 4 Questions Answered

(Aug. 13) -- BP oil spill incident commander Thad Allen announced this afternoon that the relief wells at the Macondo well site will be finished after all. There had been debate over whether or not to proceed after the static kill operation appeared to have succeeded in plugging the leak last week. Below, Surge Desk...

Government: BP Must Go Forward With Relief Well

NEW ORLEANS (Aug. 13) -- BP's broken oil well is not dead yet. The government's point man on the crisis said Friday that the blown-out well is not securely plugged to his satisfaction and that the drilling of the relief well - long regarded as the only way to ensure that the hole at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico never...

Background on relief well

A relief well is a well drilled to intersect an oil or gas well that has experienced a blowout. Specialized liquid, such as heavy (dense) drilling mud followed by cement, can then be pumped down the relief well in order to stop the flow from the reservoir in the damaged well.

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