Concerns prompt a stern warning to BP from Washington’s man on the Gulf oil spill. Worried about a substance seeping oil closed near-BP is good, the federal government claimed late Sunday that the company close to the seabed and be ready to reopen the immediate and new oil leaking for years around the source. Meanwhile the government allowing BP to the well-sealed, which means the Gulf of Mexico will continue to be spared large plumes of oil – to keep at least for now.
The demands were contained in a letter written by Thad Allen, the federal oil spill response chief, BP’s Chief Managing Director Bob Dudley late Sunday night. Allen gave the company until 9 pm EDT to respond.
The letter does not identify the substance seeping into the area of the well. BP and federal officials were unavailable for comment. But the sharp tone letter suggests the government is unhappy with the response of BP to previous calls for vigorously checking for possible problems with the plan to keep the pent-up at the top.
“If seeps are detected, you are directed to pool resources, quickly investigate and report findings to the Government in not more than four hours,” Allen wrote. “I address you to me a written procedure for opening the choke valve as quickly as possible without damaging it would be hydrocarbon seepage near the well confirmed.”
The seal was applied on top of BP and Thursday, and it proved to all of the oil to stop leaks in the Gulf for the first time in 85 days. But the federal government is concerned that the seal can cause problems of its own making. Specifically, if all goes well underground pipes are cracked, the seal oil can flow through them and worse to the seabed, creating a potentially unmanageable multitude of leaks.
All letter refers to a “discovered at a distance from the well and an unspecified anomalies at the well head oozing.” Allen does not say what these were anomalies.
During a morning conference call with reporters Sunday, BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said that “a few bubbles” was found near the well, but she was tested and found not to consist of hydrocarbons.
A test of the integrity of the pit had to end Sunday, but in a press statement earlier Sunday Allen said the government may well expand the test – and, by extension, the seal of the well – in 24-hour steps.
BP officials are cautiously optimistic about the state of the well, since the tests began. The company said the property is most likely to be in good shape when the pressure in the pipes readings were 7500 pounds per square inch or larger. Suttles said the pressure was 6778 psi Sunday.
BP officials suspect that the low readings are not due to leaks in the well, but a loss of pressure in the tank as much oil escaped. An estimated 60,000 barrels of oil per day, running to nearly three months.
“We have no problems seeing at this point, any problems with the closure of in,” said Suttles. He added that as “encouraging signs to continue,” the company hoped to keep the well-sealed at the top until a permanent relief and could plug with mud and concrete – which can not be achieved until mid-August.
The federal government has taken a fearful tone. In recent days, Allen has stressed that experts are concerned about new vulnerabilities on the seabed.
“While we are pleased that no oil is currently being released in the Gulf of Mexico and to take all appropriate measures to keep it that way, it is important that all decisions are driven by science,” Allen said in his prepared statement earlier Sunday . “Ultimately, we must ensure there is no irreparable damage is done so uncontrolled leakage from many points on the seabed.”
Allen’s letter appeared late Sunday to demand that the government has made of late BP, then introduce new again. The sharp tone suggested that he may be frustrated with the level of BP compliance.
In a statement, BP said that “compliance with all policies and protocols” Allen asked.
“We have to support the Government as leadership and value, we work side by side with the federal scientists as the testing continues, with the agreed criteria by the end of the test and would determine the reopening of the pit,” the statement said .
The back and forth between BP and the government made for a confusing weekend when observers attempt to check the status of one of the worst environmental disasters in the nation to decipher.
On Sunday, Edward J. Rep. Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of a House subcommittee on energy and the environment, said Allen asking for “clarification”, especially since Allen, in a statement Saturday that it appeared to suggest it should be reopened.
Markey said that it might be better for the weather to open, saving additional damage to the property and allowing ships to pull away from the crude oil.
BP said it could ship in late July instead of taking all the oil that had escaped. But the plan includes a large number of moving parts, and on Sunday demanded that BP Allen to provide him with a detailed timeline.
In the Gulf of Mexico, now have three days without a painter had a clear impact on the surrounding waters. Of a cargo plane over the Gulf Sunday, trails of the oil sheen is visible. Some looked like bright white stripes, like someone had clawed the water. Others were a bold orange.
But that is a huge improvement over the weeks immediately after the spill, said Lt. Ferriel Jamison, who has flown over the islands dotted with trees and skimming boats numerous times for the Coast Guard.
“Two weeks after, there was a sort of rainbow sheen as far as you could see,” he said. “Now, it’s nowhere near that.”
In a suburb of New Orleans on Monday, the focus will return to the cause of the blowout April 20 that 11 people slain rig and started leaking. A hearing is scheduled to resume, promises a highly technical analysis of what went wrong in the sophisticated drilling equipment that was boring, deep beneath the seabed.
The procedure lasts one week – carried out by the Coast Guard and the newly created Office of Ocean Energy Management, regulation and enforcement – will be sworn testimony that will result in a report later in the year.
source:bloomberg
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