They are closing in on the original bore hole and with some luck they will be able to plug this thing from the bottom. Aug will be an interesting month of anticipation as they near the final depth with the relief well. From the BP press release of June 25.
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Work on the first relief well, which started May 2, continues. The well reached a depth of 16,275 feet on June 23 before the drillstring was removed from the well to carry out the first ‘ranging’ run using wireline. During the ranging run, the MC252 well was successfully detected. Subsequent ranging runs will be needed to more precisely locate the well. Drilling and ranging operations will continue over the next few weeks towards the target intercept depth of approximately 18,000 feet, when ‘kill’ operations are expected to begin. The second relief well, which started May 16, is drilling ahead at a measured depth of 10,500 feet. Both wells are still estimated to take approximately three months to complete from commencement of drilling.
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What are they doing actually, crossing through the existing well hole?