BP Runs Crucial Tests On Gulf Oil Leak

British Petroleum Plc last Thursday ran crucial tests on its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well that could stanch the flow of crude which has polluted the ocean and shoreline since April.

BP began the process on Wednesday night, which could stretched for about 48 hours.

The British energy giant began the tests after getting the green light from top United States government officials who had delayed the plan by 24 hours on concerns  that the process could irreparably damage the well.

Kent Wells, BP’s senior vice president of exploration and production, said undersea robots working a mile (1.6 km) below the surface had started shutting a series of three valves designed to ultimately stop the oil flow completely.

Critically, BP has closed the main valve in the middle of the cap, “and we no longer have flow out the top,” Wells said.

BP said late on Wednesday it had isolated a leak it detected in one of the valves and was repairing it before proceeding with the test.

The developments were watched by investors on Thursday as BP’s ultimate costs may hinge on how much oil is judged to have flown freely into the Gulf.

The disaster is the largest offshore oil spill in US history.

Retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who is overseeing the US response to the spill, has said if tests show the well can withstand certain pressures, odds are good it could be “shut in” indefinitely.

The disaster has soiled hundreds of miles (km) of shoreline, shut down about a third of Gulf fisheries, put BP on the hook for billions of dollars in cleanup costs and legal liabilities, and prompted President Barack Obama to temporarily halt deepwater drilling.

At least some of the oil from the well has been siphoned off to ships in the past few weeks, but that operation was halted while the tests are undertaken.

BP has said by the end of July, four vessels can be hooked up to collect up to 80,000 barrels (3.34 million gallons/12.7 million litres) per day.

That should be more than enough to capture the whole well output, as estimates put the spill rate between 35,000 barrels and 60,000 barrels a day.

The only proven way to kill the leak lies in the drilling of relief wells to intercept the ruptured one.

The first of two such wells started in May is expected to intercept it by the end of July and plug by mid-August.