By Kristen Hays
HOUSTON, July 10 (Reuters) - BP Plc on Saturday aimed to remove a containment cap atop its gushing Gulf of Mexico oil leak within hours and replace it with a bigger cap and seal that could fully contain the crude, a BP executive said.
Kent Wells, senior vice president of exploration and production, said the entire process would take four to seven days.
In the time between the current cap's removal and before the new cap is bolted on, crude will gush unchecked from the leak, Wells said in a briefing to reporters.
But once the new cap is installed it could capture all the crude leaked from the seabed, he said, which would be funneled to vessels a mile above (1.6 km) at the ocean surface.
Retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the top U.S. official overseeing the spill response, had said the cap switch could be finished by Monday. But BP's plan, which Allen approved late on Friday after he had publicly discussed the timeline, showed a four- to seven-day process.
Wells said the longer stretch allows for unexpected problems. He also said BP has another cap ready to install if the cap and seal doesn't work.
At the same time, the company was hooking up and testing a third vessel in hopes that it could begin siphoning crude late on Sunday.
The two procedures are part of BP's overall effort to set up an upgraded oil-capture system with four vessels that can handle up to 80,000 barrels a day and disconnect and move quickly if a hurricane approaches.
If a hurricane hits and the vessels disconnect, crude would gush unfettered until they return and reconnect, according to BP and the Coast Guard. U.S. scientists estimate the leak is gushing up to 60,000 barrels a day, less the amount BP is setting up to contain.
Wells said that upgraded system will be in place 'over the next two to three weeks,' which is later than the original mid-July target date.
ROUGH SEAS
The delay stems in part from Hurricane Alex-related rough seas and high winds that held up the third vessel's June 30 hookup. Also, the new cap and seal was originally scheduled to be installed by the end of June, but bad weather and protracted discussions among BP, Allen and government scientists on whether to switch the caps also delayed installation targets.
The current cap is on the jagged remnant of a pipe atop failed blowout preventer equipment. It has a seal that doesn't capture all the crude, and a live video feet of the seabed shows oil billowing out from under it and from open vents on top.
'The difference is one completely seals, and the other didn't,' Wells said.
The pipe remnant and flange will be removed along with the current cap, so the new cap and seal will be bolted on a larger surface with no jagged edges. That is expected to ensure all or most leaking crude is captured, Allen has said.
BP's current oil containment system involves two vessels, Transocean Ltd's Discoverer Enterprise drillship, and Helix Energy Solutions' Q4000 rig.
The Enterprise is connected to the current containment cap by a fixed pipe, and needs at least five days' lead time to disconnect and get out of a hurricane's path. Its collected oil is processed and shipped to shore by a tanker.
The Q4000 is connected to a failed blowout preventer at the seabed via a hose and pipe. It cannot process oil, so the rig burns off collected crude.
The combined system can handle up to 28,000 barrels a day of oil. On Friday, the system collected or burned off 24,790 barrels.
The Helix Producer can handle up to 25,000 barrels a day, and was hooked up to the blowout preventer by a second hose and pipe.
An eight-day window of good weather prompted BP to hook up the Producer this week and begin the cap switch, Wells said.
Once the new cap is installed, BP will be able to move toward the 80,000 barrel-per-day collection system. The Producer will stay in place, but another vessel will replace the Q4000. A pair of drillships will be hooked up to the new cap by drillpipes, according to BP's plan. (Reporting by Kristen Hays, editing by Vicki Allen)
((For full spill coverage see http://link.reuters.com/hed87k)) Keywords: OIL SPILL/CAP (kristen.hays@thomsonreuters.com; +1 713-210-8538; Reuters Messaging: kristen.hays.reuters.com@reuters.) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
HOUSTON, July 10 (Reuters) - BP Plc on Saturday aimed to remove a containment cap atop its gushing Gulf of Mexico oil leak within hours and replace it with a bigger cap and seal that could fully contain the crude, a BP executive said.
Kent Wells, senior vice president of exploration and production, said the entire process would take four to seven days.
In the time between the current cap's removal and before the new cap is bolted on, crude will gush unchecked from the leak, Wells said in a briefing to reporters.
But once the new cap is installed it could capture all the crude leaked from the seabed, he said, which would be funneled to vessels a mile above (1.6 km) at the ocean surface.
Retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the top U.S. official overseeing the spill response, had said the cap switch could be finished by Monday. But BP's plan, which Allen approved late on Friday after he had publicly discussed the timeline, showed a four- to seven-day process.
Wells said the longer stretch allows for unexpected problems. He also said BP has another cap ready to install if the cap and seal doesn't work.
At the same time, the company was hooking up and testing a third vessel in hopes that it could begin siphoning crude late on Sunday.
The two procedures are part of BP's overall effort to set up an upgraded oil-capture system with four vessels that can handle up to 80,000 barrels a day and disconnect and move quickly if a hurricane approaches.
If a hurricane hits and the vessels disconnect, crude would gush unfettered until they return and reconnect, according to BP and the Coast Guard. U.S. scientists estimate the leak is gushing up to 60,000 barrels a day, less the amount BP is setting up to contain.
Wells said that upgraded system will be in place 'over the next two to three weeks,' which is later than the original mid-July target date.
ROUGH SEAS
The delay stems in part from Hurricane Alex-related rough seas and high winds that held up the third vessel's June 30 hookup. Also, the new cap and seal was originally scheduled to be installed by the end of June, but bad weather and protracted discussions among BP, Allen and government scientists on whether to switch the caps also delayed installation targets.
The current cap is on the jagged remnant of a pipe atop failed blowout preventer equipment. It has a seal that doesn't capture all the crude, and a live video feet of the seabed shows oil billowing out from under it and from open vents on top.
'The difference is one completely seals, and the other didn't,' Wells said.
The pipe remnant and flange will be removed along with the current cap, so the new cap and seal will be bolted on a larger surface with no jagged edges. That is expected to ensure all or most leaking crude is captured, Allen has said.
BP's current oil containment system involves two vessels, Transocean Ltd's Discoverer Enterprise drillship, and Helix Energy Solutions' Q4000 rig.
The Enterprise is connected to the current containment cap by a fixed pipe, and needs at least five days' lead time to disconnect and get out of a hurricane's path. Its collected oil is processed and shipped to shore by a tanker.
The Q4000 is connected to a failed blowout preventer at the seabed via a hose and pipe. It cannot process oil, so the rig burns off collected crude.
The combined system can handle up to 28,000 barrels a day of oil. On Friday, the system collected or burned off 24,790 barrels.
The Helix Producer can handle up to 25,000 barrels a day, and was hooked up to the blowout preventer by a second hose and pipe.
An eight-day window of good weather prompted BP to hook up the Producer this week and begin the cap switch, Wells said.
Once the new cap is installed, BP will be able to move toward the 80,000 barrel-per-day collection system. The Producer will stay in place, but another vessel will replace the Q4000. A pair of drillships will be hooked up to the new cap by drillpipes, according to BP's plan. (Reporting by Kristen Hays, editing by Vicki Allen)
((For full spill coverage see http://link.reuters.com/hed87k)) Keywords: OIL SPILL/CAP (kristen.hays@thomsonreuters.com; +1 713-210-8538; Reuters Messaging: kristen.hays.reuters.com@reuters.) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.