Plugging BP’s Macondo Oil Well

By Jessica Resnick-Ault and Katarzyna Klimasinska

BP Plc is likely to intercept its Gulf of Mexico gusher this month, ahead of schedule, kicking off a “kill” process that may take as little as two days or drag out because of complications caused by the well’s depth.

To stop the worst oil spill in U.S. history, BP is drilling a relief well, from which it will be able to cut into the Macondo well, 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) below the ocean’s surface. Once the interception is complete, London-based BP will pump mud to temporarily plug the leaking well, until it can apply a cement seal.

BP expects to kill the Macondo well by the middle of next month, spokesman Robert Wine said in a telephone interview yesterday from Houston.

Continue reading `Killing’ BP’s Macondo Oil Well Takes Mud, Precision Pressure