...Oil stopped flowing into the Gulf of Mexico (Click title to entry - thank you) for the first time in nearly three months, as BP resumed a critical and repeatedly delayed integrity test Thursday of its well.
BP could not guarantee that no oil would be released throughout the duration of the test, which will continue for at least six hours and could last up to 48 hours.
"It felt very good not to see any oil go into the Gulf of Mexico," BP senior vice president Kent Wells told reporters during a Thursday afternoon technical update. "Clearly, I'm trying to maintain a strict focus but we are very encouraged."
Oil stopped gushing at 2:25 p.m., Wells said, when engineers closed the choke line.
Obama called the progress "a positive sign" when asked about the process during a news briefing Thursday on the passage of the financial overhaul bill....
This is ONLY A TEST. What does that mean?
It means there is a cap to the well head that is 'holding up' to the pressures of the oil and gas and subterranian dynamics. There is still a long road ahead, but, this cap should provide a method of 'control dynamic.'
The cap will be a permanent fixture even after the relief wells permanently close the hole.
Let's think of it this way. What if we could wave a wand and make time reverse and go back to the time when Earth was intact. Then slowing move the 'time machine' forward. What would occur is a tragedy. It would be a disaster that began with igorning things like broken seals.
The tragedy builds from there.
Now. Let's 'stop motion at the point when the explosion occurred, having killled 11 people and injuring 17 more.
That explosion may happen again. How?
Come to present day and run a little bit forward to the point where one of the relief wells are 'coming' very close to the well. It will be a short time before the well casing and the opening of the well is made.
Okay?
Have the dynamics of the well changed?
No.
The high pressures and high methane content is still the same.
The reason the 'cap' is so important is because now when the relief wells are about to enter the well 'the pressure' within the well can be manipulated to prevent a rush of methane back to the oil rig.
This is going to sound odd, especially coming from me, but at this point it is better to have risers that go to surface ships to remove the oil until the relief wells are completed. The cap will control the oil from escaping into the Gulf Waters and hopefully when the tests are completed the cap will act as a secure way to 'abandon' the well site completely should there be a hurricane. Hurricanes have their own dynamics and we saw how the 'old cap' was literally bouncing with the increased wave activity during "Alex" and this is why this is a test.
This is super good news and for the most part the dangers surrounding this well have stopped. It needs to be monitored and it can't really be left alone. I am sure there will be some cameras and robots at the well site even during hurricanes to monitor the events surrounding the new well cap. I am sure there are many aspects of hurricanes that have gone into the design. I am feeling somewhat comfortable about this progress and am very hopeful this is the end of the pollution into the Gulf of Mexico.
The oil dispersant needs to stop being dumped into the waters, too.
Now, time and SAFETY are on our side.
I congratulate all those that have contributed to this outcome, including, the Obama White House and the USA Coast Guard. This was nothing short of heroic. We could not have had better people at the helm and I can't thank them enough. Everyone did a great job.
It is going to be some time before the Gulf Coast will be recovered, but, let it begin.
Thank you to the President and his White House staff and to Dr. Chu and his team for caring and supremely intolerant to this incident.
