Drilling Crews Near Completion Of Intersecting Wells

Containment of Deepwater Horizon blowout is within view

The man ramrodding the cleanup and containment job on the
Deepwater Horizon blowout was upbeat and optimistic in his
latest remarks to the media

In a news conference televised on C-Span last night, retired
Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said relief wells are within
a few hundred feet of intersecting the well bore.

Admiral Allen is the National Incident Commander who is
coordinating the effort between BP, the government and
hundreds of contractors to control and stop the flow of the
runaway well that blew out on April 20, sinking "Deepwater
Horizon" in water a mile deep.

Basically, the drilling crews are about seven days ahead of
schedule, he said, speaking to media from BP headquarters at
Houston.

However, the drilling crews are entering the stage of the
operation that is the most "slow and tedious," because every
few feet the drill bit travels, they have to withdraw the
entire string and insert a probe that will give them an
electromagnetic reading on the proximity of the well bore
and precisely what adjustments to make that will have the
greatest probability of a successful intersection. This
procedure guides the drilling to the perfect intersection.

The first hole is now at a depth of about 12,000 feet.

Asked what will happen if the relief well project does not
meet with success, he said that another relief well is at
about 8,000 feet and making steady progress.

Because wave action in the Gulf is between 3 and 5 feet, the
crews have slowed down in the drilling and skimmers are
idle, except inland in Barataria Bay, according to Admiral
Allen.

He added that with the array of skimmers now on station and
waiting for a break in the weather, there will be a possible
capture rate of about 80,000 barrels of crude per day.

Other scenarios include a completely submerged system that
will capture the oil at the well head, then re-route it to
reservoirs underground, something that would render the
entire apparatus hurricane-proof.

No one asked the admiral about biological remediation
through microbial consumption of the spilled crude.