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BP Preparing 'Top Kill' to Stop Leaking Oil Well in Gulf of Mexico

   VOA News 25 May 2010
   A  contractor  operates an oil skimmer in Pass a Loutre, Louisiana, 24
   May 2010

Photo: AP

   A  contractor  operates an oil skimmer in Pass a Loutre, Louisiana, 24
   May 2010

   Oil  company  BP is preparing an operation to completely plug a broken
   deep-sea well spewing crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
   The  company said Tuesday equipment is in place for the so-called "top
   kill"  method,  which  involves  pumping heavy drilling fluid into the
   well  to  stop  the  flow  of  oil  and  gas.  BP says the operation,
   expected to begin Wednesday, has a 60 to 70 percent chance of success.
   Members  of  President  Barack  Obama's  administration have expressed
   frustration  with  having  to  rely on BP to contain the spill washing
   ashore on the U.S. Gulf coast. Â
   Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Sunday said the government was ready
   to  intervene.   But  a  Coast Guard official overseeing the cleanup,
   Thad  Allen, acknowledged that only BP has the equipment and expertise
   to attack the well 1,500 meters under water.
   The  well  ruptured  when  a BP-leased off-shore drilling rig exploded
   April  20,  killing 11 workers.  Since then, an unknown amount of oil
   has  been  spewing  into the Gulf of Mexico.  Crude oil washing up on
   U.S. shores has killed wildlife and is threatening fishing industries.
   Louisiana  Governor  Bobby Jindal said Monday the oil is fundamentally
   threatening  people's  way  of  life  in the southern U.S. state.  He
   lashed  out  at  BP and federal officials on Sunday, saying he has not
   received the resources he requested to protect Louisiana's coastline.
   BP  officials  say  the company's cost for responding to the spill has
   grown to $760 million.
   If  the  "top  kill"  operation  does  not  work, BP says it will make
   another  attempt  to  siphon  away  some  of  the oil spewing from the
   leaking  well  to  a  ship  on the surface.  The company claimed some
   success with a similar technique last week.
   BP is also drilling a pair of relief wells, considered the best option
   for  stopping the leak.  But it could take months for the drilling to
   be  completed,  meaning if current containment methods fail, oil could
   continue spilling into the Gulf.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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