BP oil spill cap: can it take the pressure?
Updated on 17 July 2010
All eyes are focused on the newly installed cap on the leaking BP oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. The cap so far has stopped any further oil from leaking, as Julian Rush explains the dangers of a "well blow-out".
So, can the new cap handle the pressure or not? BP are expected to announce within the next few hours whether the improvised cap fitted to the damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico has successfully sealed the spill of oil.
The valves on the cap were shut two days ago. Since then engineers have been monitoring the pressure in the well to see if there are leaks elsewhere.
So far none have been detected and earlier BPs Vice President Kent Wells said the signs looked good, but that they may wish to extend the period of testing for the cap beyond the original 48 hours period due to end this afternoon.
"There was always the provision that under certain circumstances the test could be extended," said Kent Wells, BP's senior vice president of exploration and production. "The longer this test goes, the more confidence we have."
The pressure test is intended to show whether the blowout damaged the piping and cement inside the stricken well, which could allow oil and natural gas to leak out the sides and possibly breach the seabed.
The test result should show whether a new cap installed July 12 atop the wellhead can keep all oil flow shut in for long periods of time, or whether a possible breach forces BP to resume funneling oil to vessels at the surface until a relief well intercepts and plugs the leak by mid-August.
Why the testing period is so vital
These 48 hours are crucial in BP's attempts to stem the flow of oil, writes Channel 4 News Science Correspondent Julian Rush.They are proceeding very slowly and carefully for very good reason. The worst case scenario would be a well blow-out - a rupture in the sections of metal drill pipe that go down the hole for thousands of feet to the oil-bearing rocks. That could lead to oil surging up the hole uncontrollably and a gusher of unconstrained oil and gas that would dwarf the current disaster.
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