Gulf oil spill: first leak capped, says BP

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

BP has managed to seal the smallest of the three leaks spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico, it says.

However, the cap will not reduce the amount of oil flowing from the Gulf well yet, officials say.

But working with only two leaks makes improving the situation easier and progress is being made, a US Coast Guard officer has told AFP news agency.

A giant iron funnel being built in a bid to halt the huge spill will be deployed to the seabed on Thursday.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/8662573.stm

[Angry Dragon]

1. This not a spill

It is a very large gusher

[FBI_Un_Sub]

2. Good point./t

[Owl]

3. And how long before the "iron funnel" rusts-away?

[mike_c]

5. decades or longer-- it's a 70 ton steel and cement coffer dam...

...that can be connected to a drilling ship pipeline to draw off the oil coming from the wellhead for a few months until relief wells can be drilled. Or at least, that's the theory. This is pretty uncharted territory. But "iron funnel" is a bit of an understatement.

[Arctic Dave]

4. Terminology police here.

They did not "cap" the leak, they "diverted" it. To "cap" means to stop the flow with a plug. They are simply corraling to another location.

[Igel]

6. It sounds like they capped it.

"Cap" and "seal" imply that fairly strongly.

There are three leaks. The "iron funnel" is intended for one or both of the remaining leaks; it will divert the oil and not cap the gusher; as the OP says, it's still being built. I'd assume that precludes its being deployed.

However, capping this one will just increase the pressure elsewhere, so the decline in oil output probably won't be much.

[Arctic Dave]

7. When drilling you cap a well by plugging it with cement

or shutting in the valaves and have zero flow. This is not a cap, it is on a diverter. When the oil is completely shut off from the well is when it will be capped.

They are trying to play up their response to this catstrophy.

I have 18 years in the oilfield, I know the difference.