BP reconsidering "top kill", now calling it "static kill"

Washington (CNN) -- As tests continue Tuesday on BP's ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, scientists are weighing a new option for permanently sealing it.
The "static kill" would involve pumping mud into the well to force oil back into the reservoir below, officials from BP said Monday, noting that the option could succeed where similar attempts have failed because pressure in the well is lower than expected.
...
"I think the reason that they're considering it is because they've yet to intercept the well bore," Berman said. "They're very close, a few feet away with the relief well, as everyone knows. But to actually intersect the seven-inch pipe does involve a bit of technology and accuracy, whereas if they do the static kill through the existing well bore at the top, there's less uncertainty about their ability to actually get the mud into the pipe."

www.cnn.com...

So in short it seems that they are thinking that since the new cap has a fairly good seal and proper fittings on it, they should now be able to use those to pump drilling mud into the well bore and force the oil downwards and then seal it with concrete.

Seems a bit odd that they would be now considering this just as the relief well is literally within feet of completion, granted those last few feet are the toughest and require great precision, whereas the "static kill" could probably easily be attempted by the weekend if they wanted to go for it.

My main question is...how much mud pressure will it take to force the oil back down the well bore? And isn't there additional danger of a sub-seafloor blowout if they are pumping mud at a few thousand PSI against the oil column which itself is under several thousand psi of pressure already?

[edit on 20-7-2010 by Blazer]

What they can do is, releive the pressure with the relief wells and pump the mud in at the same time.

reply to post by Cajun Raptor


I thought they were going to do that anyways?

second line

At least they don't want to nuke it. Yet.

Originally posted by Blazer
At least they don't want to nuke it. Yet.

yet, indeed
2nd

top kill, static kill, all its going to amount to is another poop shot. but who im i to talk.

i think they should just wait for the sure fire plan of relief wells. not to mention major news networks are reporting that the pressure was low, indicating leaks somewhere, and if those leaks are in the seabed or surrounding formations it is going to be a real real big big problem to fix, i mean i cant even think of where we would start on something like that

i just hope its not true

I just hope the combined pressure of the well and the pressure of the mud they inject doesn't cause a blowout.