BP well could be pronounced dead within days; Washington cracks down on abandoned Gulf wells

BP well could be pronounced dead within days

KENNER, La. — The blown-out well at the bottom of Gulf of Mexico could be pronounced dead in a matter of days.

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government’s point man for the oil spill, said Wednesday that the relief well BP has been drilling all summer long should intersect the ruptured well within 24 hours. He said mud and cement will then be pumped in, sealing the hole once and for all by Sunday.

“We are within a 96-hour window of killing the well,” Allen said nearly five months after the disaster unfolded with an explosion aboard an offshore drilling rig April 20 that killed 11 workers.

The news came on the same day the Obama administration announced it will require oil and gas companies to plug thousands of idle wells in the Gulf to make sure they don’t leak.

No oil has spewed into the Gulf since a temporary cap was put on the busted BP well in mid-July. Mud and cement were later pushed down through the top of the well, allowing the cap to be removed. The relief well is being drilled 2½ miles through dirt and rock beneath the sea floor so that the ruptured well can also be sealed from the bottom, ensuring it never causes a problem again.

As of Wednesday morning, crews had only 20 feet left to drill.

The spill of more than 200 million gallons of oil led to closer scrutiny of the thousands of other wells in the Gulf, stoked anger toward BP and cost CEO Tony Hayward his job.

On Wednesday, testifying before a British parliamentary committee, Hayward insisted his company had a strong safety record and was not solely to blame for the disaster. But he also acknowledged: “I understand why people feel the way they do, and there is little doubt that the inability of BP, and the industry, to intervene to seal the leak … was unacceptable.”

Later in Washington, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued an order requiring oil and gas companies to plug nearly 3,500 nonproducing wells and dismantle about 650 production platforms no longer in use. The action is intended to prevent catastrophic leaks at wells that in some cases have been abandoned for decades.

“As infrastructure continues to age, the risk of damage increases. That risk increases substantially during storm season,” said Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.

More than 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells lie beneath the Gulf, and more than 1,200 oil rigs and platforms sit idle. An Associated Press investigation showed that many of the wells have been ignored for decades, with no one checking for leaks.

Under the order issued Wednesday, operators must plug wells that been inactive for the past five years. Platforms and pipelines that are not being used for production or exploration must be decommissioned, even if the leases are still active.

Federal regulations require idle structures to be decommissioned — a process that involves plugging wells and dismantling and removing equipment — within one year of the lease’s expiration date.

Oil and gas producers have long argued that certain idle platforms, wells and pipelines are still valuable, because they might one day be used to support other wells nearby. Oil companies have been reluctant to plug the wells and remove the infrastructure until the lease expires.

Allen, meanwhile, announced that he will step down as incident commander for the oil spill on Oct. 1 — the same day BP installs American Bob Dudley in Hayward’s place. Allen will be succeeded by Coast Guard Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft.

Allen said the timing of his departure is unrelated to BP’s leadership change.

“I worked well with Tony Hayward and I work well with Bob Dudley,” Allen said. “I like to think I work well with anybody.”

Appearing with Allen at a seafood distributorship in Kenner, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief Jane Lubchenco said monitoring continues of oil that remains in the Gulf.

Scientists said earlier this week that they had found thick patches of oil coating the sea floor, raising questions about government conclusions that much of the mess has broken down and is gone. Testing is under way to establish conclusively whether the oil on the sea floor is from the BP spill.

Allen and Lubchenco sought to reassure the public that seafood from the Gulf is safe to eat. Allen said he has eaten Gulf seafood every day for the past several days.

Matthew Daly contributed from Washington. Associated Press writer David Stringer in London also contributed.