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Sunday, May 16, 2010
http://exposingtheleft.blogspot.com/2010/05/gulf-oil-spill-update.html

Gulf Oil Spill (Updated)

My confidential informant/relative working on a support vessel in the Gulf says that the “siphon tube” is in place and they could begin pumping the oil spewing from the leaking riser within the next few hours.

Keep your fingers crossed folks as confidence remains guarded but high that this is going to work.

UPDATE: BP Succeeds in Inserting a Tube to Funnel Oil From Leaking Well

Bloomberg
BP Succeeds in Inserting a Tube to Funnel Oil From Leaking Well
May 16, 2010, 1:32 PM EDT
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-16/bp-succeeds-in-inserting-a-tube-to-funnel-oil-from-leaking-well.html

By Kim Chipman and Jordan Burke

May 16 (Bloomberg) — BP Plc said it made a breakthrough today in its attempts to control oil leaking from a damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico, successfully inserting a tube that will funnel oil to a ship on the water’s surface.

It was BP’s second attempt to insert the tube to capture oil gushing from a well 5,000 feet below the water’s surface. A first attempt failed when the frame that holds the tube shifted, Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer for exploration and production, said yesterday.

The tube will capture only some of the spillage. “While not collecting all of the leaking oil, this tool is an important step in reducing the amount of oil being released into Gulf waters,” the statement said.

After the tube was successfully inserted and working to funnel the oil, it was dislodged, halting the test. Technicians inspected the system and have reinserted the tube, BP and government authorities said today in a statement from the oil spill’s Joint Information Center.

The tube is made from a 4-inch (10.2 centimeters) pipe wrapped with a rubber flange and inserted by remote-operated vehicles into a larger pipe leading from the leaking well.

The idea is that undersea pressure will force the oil into the pipe and up to the surface, where a drill ship will separate and store the oil for processing at a refinery. After it was in place, the tube was successfully capturing oil and gas and funneling it to the ship, BP and government officials said in the statement.

Transocean Ltd.’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, leased to London-based BP, exploded April 20 and sank two days later, taking the lives of 11 crew members. BP attempted to divert the flow using a 40-foot steel box, which didn’t work. It also failed in an attempt to use remote-operated vehicles to engage a device that would shut the well.

—Editors: Susan Warren, Theo Mullen.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kim Chipman in New Orleans, Louisiana at kchipman@bloomberg.net’ Jordan Burke in New Orleans at jburke29@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Susan Warren at susanwarren@bloomberg.net