BP oil spill: BP attempts risky 'cut and cap' procedure

Robot submarines use a circular saw-like device to cut a pipe at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, Tuesday, June 1, 2010.

AP Photo/BP PLC

After announcing over the weekend the failure of the ‘top kill’ procedure to stop the geyser of oil spreading throughout the Gulf of Mexico, on Tuesday BP has started a riskier procedure designed to capture the oil from the well.

Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who is in charge of government operations in response to the disaster, stated, “We're not talking about capping the well anymore; we're talking about containing the well.”

Called a ‘cut and cap,’ the attempt involves the use of robotic undersea craft to cut the pipe at the well. Then a cap with a siphoning pipe will be placed over the opening of the well in order to capture the oil at the surface and place it in tankers. There is a chance that the flow from the well will increase by 10% to 20% when the pipe is severed, which will be temporary if the process is successful.

BP has stated that if successful, they expect the well to be capped and contained on Wednesday.

However, BP executives have braced for possible failure. A statement from BP on Tuesday remarked, “Systems such as the LMRP containment cap have never before been deployed at these depths and conditions and their efficiency and ability to contain the oil and gas cannot be assured.”

Even if successful, this procedure is only a temporary fix, and may not withstand the impact of a strong tropical storm or hurricane. Hurricane season started on Tuesday.

In addition to the ‘cut and cap’ procedure, BP is also drilling two relief wells to relieve pressure from the broken pipe, which will provide a greater chance at a plug. However, these wells are not expected to be completed before August.

The oil spill was created when there was an explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 50 miles southeast of the Louisiana peninsula. Eleven workers were killed in the explosion. The flow of oil from the fissures has been an officially unknown, though an independent source determined the rate of oil and methane release to be 95,000 barrels or 4 million gallons per day.