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BP Will Try New Option to Plug Oil Leak After Top-Kill Failure

   Nico Colombant | Washington 30 May 2010
   Workers  clean  up  oil  residue  along  the  beach  in Port Fourchon,
   Louisiana, 29 May 2010

Photo: AP

   Workers  clean  up  oil  residue  along  the  beach  in Port Fourchon,
   Louisiana, 29 May 2010

   Energy  company  BP  says  it  has  failed  in its attempt to plug the
   gushing  oil  leak on a ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico. President
   Barack Obama reacted by saying the situation is in his words "enraging
   and  heartbreaking" and that the U.S. government will not relent until
   the leak is contained and waters and shores are cleaned up.

   BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles said the latest maneuver known
   as  a  top-kill, which involved pumping heavy fluids and junk into the
   well, had failed.

   "After  three full days of attempting top-kill, we have been unable to
   overcome  the  flow  from the well," he said. "So we now believe it is
   time  to  move on to the next of our options, which is the LMRP, lower
   marine riser package cap."

   The new method involves trying to cut the damaged part of the well and
   then  contain  the  leak with a valve. Suttles said it would take four
   days to complete, but he said he could not guarantee success.

   Officials  in  the U.S. government estimate between 70 million and 150
   million  liters of oil have already gushed into the Gulf of Mexico and
   onto  surrounding  coastlines in Louisiana since the well's explosion,
   which also killed 11 workers, on April 20.

   Other  methods  BP  has  tried  to stop the crude from causing further
   environmental damage include a gigantic box placed over the leak and a
   tube insertion to suck out the oil.

   Amid  public  anger,  both  in affected areas, and on the Internet, as
   well as harsh media criticism, Suttles admitted he was worried.

   "This  scares  everybody,  the fact that we cannot make this well stop
   flowing,  or  that  we  have not succeeded in that so far. And we have
   devoted  countless resources, and pulled in the best minds we can find
   from across the world, and across government, and across industry," he
   added.  "We  have tried to tell people since the beginning that we had
   parallel paths. We are working multiple options in parallel because we
   did not know which one would be successful."

   Suttles  said  the  biggest challenge is that the explosion took place
   1500 meters underwater, and that none of the maneuvers being attempted
   have ever been tried so deep.

   BP  is  also  working on a long-term solution to stop the spill, which
   involves drilling so-called relief wells, but experts say that process
   could take up to three more months.

   The  U.S.  government  has  also  come  under  criticism for not doing
   enough.  A  representative  of the U.S. Coast Guard, Rear Admiral Mary
   Landry,  said  she  was very disappointed in the top-kill failure. She
   said  the  government  was working aggressively to stop the effects of
   the spill.

   She   said   about  170  kilometers  of  coastline  had  already  been
   contaminated.  She  also  warned  the  region  was  entering  the  new
   hurricane season, which could further complicate the situation.

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