Timeline of Events in BP Oil Spill: Day by Day, April 20 to July 16-Day 87 Gusher Halted, BP Clean Up Costs Exceed $3.7 Billion

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BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said: “The BP board is deeply saddened to lose a CEO whose success over some three years in driving the performance of the company was so widely and deservedly admired. 

“The tragedy of the Macondo well explosion and subsequent environmental damage has been a watershed incident. BP remains a strong business with fine assets, excellent people and a vital role to play in meeting the world’s energy needs. But it will be a different company going forward, requiring fresh leadership supported by robust governance and a very engaged board.

“We are highly fortunate to have a successor of the calibre of Bob Dudley who has spent his working life in the oil industry both in the US and overseas and has proved himself a robust operator in the toughest circumstances,” Svanberg said.

Bob Dudley (54) is a main board director of BP and currently runs the recently-established unit responsible for clean-up operations and compensation programmes in the Gulf of Mexico. He joined BP from Amoco after the merger of the two companies in 1998. He was president and CEO of BP’s Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, until 2008. 

“I am honoured to be given the job of rebuilding BP’s strengths and reputation but sad at the circumstances. I have the greatest admiration for Tony, both for the job he has done since he became CEO in 2007 and for his unremitting dedication to dealing with the Gulf of Mexico disaster,” Dudley said. 

“I do not underestimate the nature of the task ahead, but the company is financially robust with an enviable portfolio of assets and professional teams that are among the best in the industry. I believe this combination – allied to clear, strategic direction – will put BP on the road to recovery.”

On his appointment, Dudley will be based in London and will hand over his present duties in the US to Lamar McKay, chairman and president of BP America. “In this change of roles, I particularly want the people of the Gulf Coast to know that my commitment to remediation and restitution in the region is not lessened. I gave a promise to make it right and I will keep that promise,” he said. 

Hayward will remain on the BP board until November 30, 2010. BP also plans to nominate him as a non-executive director of TNK-BP. 

Commenting on the decision to step down, Hayward said: “The Gulf of Mexico explosion was a terrible tragedy for which – as the man in charge of BP when it happened – I will always feel a deep responsibility, regardless of where blame is ultimately found to lie. 

“From day one I decided that I would personally lead BP’s efforts to stem the leak and contain the damage, a logistical operation unprecedented in scale and cost. We have now capped the oil flow and we are doing everything within our power to clean up the spill and to make restitution to everyone with legitimate claims. 

“I would like to thank all of the BP people involved in the response and the many thousands of others along the Gulf Coast who have joined us in our efforts.

“I believe the decision I have reached with the board to step down is consistent with the responsibility BP has shown throughout these terrible events. BP will be a changed company as a result of Macondo and it is right that it should embark on its next phase under new leadership,” Hayward said.

“I will be working closely with Bob Dudley over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition. It has been a privilege to serve BP for nearly 30 years and to lead it for the last three. I am sad to leave so many fine colleagues and friends who have helped this great company to achieve so much over the years. I am sorry that achievement has been overshadowed by the tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico.” 

BP said that under the terms of his contract Hayward would receive a year’s salary in lieu of notice, amounting to £1.045 million.

Biography of Bob Dudley can be found below:

Robert Dudley

Bob Dudley currently serves as the President and CEO of BP’s Gulf Coast Restoration organisation in the United States. He was appointed to the BP board of directors in April 2009 as an executive director and member of the senior management team. Prior to the Gulf of Mexico incident he oversaw the BP Group’s activities in Asia and the Americas. 

Bob stepped down in December 2008 from his role as President and CEO of TNK-BP in Moscow after more than five years. He served in the role from the time of the formation of the company in 2003. 

Prior to his role at TNK-BP, he served as Group Vice President responsible for BP’s upstream businesses in Angola, Egypt, Russia, the Caspian Region and Algeria. He was previously Group Vice President for BP’s Renewables and Alternative energy activities with responsibilities for BP’s global solar business, wind and hydrogen activities. 

Earlier work included roles for BP Group Strategy in London, following a similar role with Amoco Corporation in Chicago. 

Bob has worked broadly across the international oil industry. Before the merger with BP, he was based in Moscow from 1994 through 1997 in a role of corporate development for Amoco’s upstream and downstream businesses in Russia. Prior to that he worked on the restructuring of oil and gas R&D activities in the US, and between 1987 and 1993, he worked on the negotiation and development projects in the South China Sea. 

In the 1980s he served in a variety of commercial and operating roles in the USA and the UK sector of the North Sea working in Chicago, Aberdeen and Houston.

He holds a Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois, a Masters in International Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management, and an MBA from SMU. 

He is a Member of the Board of Fellows of the Thunderbird School of Global Management, and a Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. He was awarded an Honorary CBE in December 2009 for services to global energy security and industry. 

The 54 year old was born in New York and grew up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He is married with two grown up children.

Source: BP News Release

July 27, Tuesday, 

BP announced on July 27 that it has taken a pre-tax charge of $32.2 billion for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, including the $20 billion escrow compensation fund previously announced.

The company will also tell analysts later today that it plans to sell assets for up to $30 billion over the next 18 months, primarily in the upstream business, and selected on the basis that they are worth more to other companies than to BP. This portfolio high grading will leave the company with a smaller but higher quality Exploration & Production business. 

Meanwhile BP continues to access new business opportunities, with new agreements in Azerbaijan, Egypt, China and Indonesia announced since the end of the first quarter.

The company said it was taking a prudent approach to managing the balance sheet and its financial liquidity, in order to ensure that BP has the flexibility to meet all of its future financial obligations. As a result it plans to reduce its net debt level down to a range of $10-$15 billion within the next 18 months, compared to net debt of $23 billion at the end of June. Group capital spending for 2010 and 2011 will be about $18 billion a year, in line with previous forecasts. 

“With the leak now capped we have reached a significant milestone,” said Tony Hayward, group chief executive. “This provides a firm basis for moving forward to reshape the company. By disposing of assets worth more to others than to BP we can better align our strategic footprint with our global strengths.” 

In reporting second quarter results, BP revealed that it is taking a charge of $32.2 billion to reflect the impact of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, including costs to date of $2.9 billion for the response and a charge of $29.3 billion for future costs, including the funding of the $20 billion escrow fund.

“We expect we will pay the substantial majority of the remaining direct spill response costs by the end of the year. Other costs are likely to be spread over a number of years, including any fines and penalties, longer-term remediation, compensation and litigation costs,” Hayward said. 

The company revealed the charge as it announced a headline replacement cost loss for the quarter of $17 billion. After adjusting for all non-operating items and fair value accounting effects, second-quarter underlying replacement cost profit was $5 billion compared to $2.9 billion in the second quarter of 2009. 

“The costs and charges involved in meeting our commitments in responding to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are very significant and this $17 billion reported loss reflects that. However outside the Gulf it is very encouraging that BP’s global business has delivered another strong underlying performance, which means that the company is in robust shape to meet its responsibilities in dealing with the human tragedy and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico,” Hayward said.

Higher prices for oil and gas made up for slightly lower output and a loss in gas marketing and trading in Exploration & Production, while Refining & Marketing reported increased profits as a result of strong performance in the fuels value chains and the lubricants and petrochemicals businesses. 

In Refining & Marketing the company continues to expect an annualised pre-tax performance improvement of over $2 billion, to be achieved over the next two to three years. BP’s underlying second quarter downstream result was the strongest since Q2 2006, when refining margins were more than double current levels, with the US business returning to profitability for the first time in over a year.

The company also gave more details of the strong financial position in which it faces its responsibilities. Second-quarter operating cash flow, excluding Gulf of Mexico oil spill costs, was $8.9 billion, up 31 per cent compared with the same quarter last year.

This higher operating cash flow enabled the group to reduce its net debt by $2.9 billion in the first half, despite payments being made in respect of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. In addition, the company has lined up substantial additional bank borrowing facilities, all of which remain undrawn, has reduced cash outflow in 2010 by reducing capex and by cancelling the payment of further dividends this year, as previously announced. 

“We remain confident in our ability to meet our obligations to those on the Gulf Coast of the United States, other impacted parties and all our stakeholders,” said BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg. “Our shareholders have not received any dividends since the spill occurred. As we said last month, the Board remains strongly committed to the payment of future dividends and delivering long term value to shareholders. The Board will consider its position on future dividend payments at the time of issuance of the fourth quarter 2010 results in February 2011.”

Source: BP News Release

 

July 27

 

Below is a transcript from today’s teleconference press briefing by Admiral Thad Allen, National Incident Commander for the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill, and NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco.

July 27, 2010

2:00 p.m. EDT

Thad Allen: Thank you Megan, I’d like to provide two operational updates and then allow Jane Lubchenco to make any comments she would like and we’d be glad to take your questions.

First of all regarding the condition of the, of the capped well. Pressure continues to rise, the latest readings this morning were 6,928 pounds per square inch. Temperature was 39.7 which was in degree of yesterdays so all indications are stable. We’ve had no anomalies detected. The well continues to be secure and demonstrate integrity.

We are intending to run two runs today with the Geco Topaz which is our seismic research vessel. Those runs will be made in coordination with the NOAA vessel Pisces which will be doing acoustic measuring at the same time.

That will be done in and around 1,500 meters of the well head itself beyond that the Gordon Gunter another NOAA vessel will be taking additional acoustic readings. Again this is an attempt to build up our knowledge of the seafloor itself and the anomalies associated with what might be seeping out of it.

And to build up a really good 3D visualization of the strata and the formation there as it relates to well integrity. That continues and again the capping stack is in place and we see no indications or any problems associated with that.

Regarding the relief well, the Development Driller III, the riser is latched in and we are currently replacing or displacing, I’m sorry, sea water in the riser package with mud and going through BOP testing.

This is all in advance of later in the week to run and submit the new liners, casing which will be the last structural component before we proceed to the bottom kill. We’re also in position with the Q4, the Q4000 making preparations on there to be able to move some time around next Monday or so, around the second of August to start the static kill if everything remains on target.

Other containment issues like the free standing riser and so forth are queued behind this work because the most important work right now is to finish that, putting that casing and we’ll continue to do that.

One item of interest earlier today, we received a report, the Coast Guard received a report that the uninspected towing vessel, Pere Ana C pushing the barge Captain Beauford collided with an oil and natural gas rig in the northern part of Barataria Bay south of Lafitte.

The structure itself is called C117 and that is a state owned well. We have about 6,000 feet of boom around the facility right now, there’s an over flight in progress with Admiral Paul Zukunft and Governor Jindal right now and they are assessing the issues on scene, and will be available to report updates on that later today and out of the JIC and so forth.

Other than that I would like to go to Jane Lubchenco for any comments she wants to make, we’d be glad to take your questions.

Jane?

Jane Lubchenco: Thanks Admiral Allen, good afternoon everyone. NOAA remains fully mobilized on many fronts to track the oil with satellites and planes in the air, ships on the water and shore line assessment teams on the ground. NOAA scientists are deployed throughout the Gulf helping to assess where the oil has gone, where it will go and to determine the extent of the damages to the Gulf seacoast system.

We know that a significant amount of the oil has disbursed and been biodegraded by naturally occurring bacteria. Bacteria that breaks down oil are naturally abundant in the Gulf of Mexico in large part because of the warm water there and the conditions afforded by nutrients and oxygen availability.

While there’s more analysis to be done to exactly quantify the rate of biodegradation early indications show that the light crude oil is being, is biodegrading quickly. When oil is dispersed into smaller bits from the use of dispersants or by weathering it’s even easier for the bacteria to get to it and to consume it.

We’re currently doing a very careful analysis to better understand where the oil has gone and where the remaining impacts are most likely to occur. To do this we’re working with the best scientific minds in the government as well as independent scientific community to produce an estimate of just how much oil has been skimmed, burned, contained, evaporated and dispersed.

So stay tuned on that front.

We do know that over 600 miles of the Gulf coast shoreline have already been oiled and some remains on the surface although the amount on the surface is less and less as our very aggressive efforts to contain it have been successful.

Recent satellite imagery indicates surface oil is continuing to break up into smaller scattered patches, observations from over flights indicate these patches are predominantly light sheens containing little recoverable oil.

We continue to monitor this oil and NOAA will continually issue, we’ll continue to issue daily surface oil trajectories for as long as necessary. Today’s trajectory map shows that in the short term moderate on shore winds during the next few days may bring some remaining oil ashore to the Mississippi and Alabama barrier islands, the Chandeleur Islands, Breton Sound and the Mississippi Delta Sound and the Mississippi Delta and shorelines west of Caillou Bay, Louisiana.

However, as the surface oil continues to weather and break up into smaller patches NOAA responders are working with unified command to develop monitoring strategies for tar balls and near shore submerged oil.

With the well already shut in now for a number of days, 12 days, the result of oil reaching shorelines continues to decrease. These efforts help us get a better sense of where all the oil has gone. Less oil on the surface does not mean that there isn’t oil beneath the surface however or that our beaches and marshes aren’t still at risk.

We are extremely concerned about the ongoing short term and long term impacts to the Gulf ecosystem. The long term impacts of oil have different effects on different populations and portions of the Gulf and fully understanding the damages and impacts of the spill on the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem is something that will take time and continued monitoring and research.

NOAA continues to play a vital role in conducting research on the surface and underwater and is doing so in close partnership with both other federal agencies and with the academic community. Currently, for example, there are four NOAA vessels, two aircraft and five sea turtle rescue boats currently operating in the Gulf of Mexico with missions ranging from seafood safety to detecting submerged oil.

There are also an additional 19 NOAA contract vessels and nine gliders in the area all making significant contributions to understanding where the oil is and what impact it’s having.

For example some of the NOAA ships include the NOAA ship Pisces and Gordon Gunter, those two ships have been supporting the unified command in its well head integrity testing efforts since July 14. Admiral Allen mentioned the Pisces in his remarks.

The ships use sophisticated acoustic echo sounders to monitor for oil and gas releases in the immediate vicinity of and directly over the well head. The NOAA ship Nancy Foster is in the northern Gulf using a remotely operated vehicle to monitor deep water bottom and coral habitats that have been exposed to the oil dispersant mixture.

The NOAA ship Oregon II is collecting samples of fish and shrimp of Louisiana at depths between 30 and 360 feet. The samples will be tested for contaminants as part of the ongoing program that ensures seafood harvested from the Gulf remains safe for consumers.

We also have two Twin Otter aircraft operating out of Mobile, Alabama, that are active in the spill response effort. One is using a Multispectral Scanner to measure surface oil density and thickness. The other’s providing aerial observations and surveys of marine life including dolphins, whales and sea turtles in the area of the spill.

NOAA sea turtle experts are vital members of the incident commands wildlife branch which has deployed five turtle rescue boats whose crews search for oiled turtles. So far, about 180 turtles have been rescued and 170 of those are currently alive in rehabilitation.

We will remain vigilant and our scientists and damage assessment teams continue to work tirelessly collecting data and information to help us better understand the impacts on this complex ecosystem—to inform the ongoing response efforts and to provide a strong scientific basis for long term restoration planning.

And with that I’m happy to answer any questions.

Operator: At this time if you would like to ask a question, press star then the number one on your telephone keypad. Our first question comes from the line of Harry Weber with The Associated Press.

Harry Weber: Thank you for taking the call again, this call, questions actually for Admiral Allen. Admiral Allen, obviously there was some news today involving the leadership that BP and as expected Mr. Dudley is going to take over for Tony Hayward.

Now I’m curious do you think that the public perception of the overall oil response effort from the unified command and that involves the government and BP will improve now that Mr. Dudley has been elevated to CEO, in other words do you think it’s going to be better, the public perception than it was before? And if so can you talk a little bit about why?

Thad Allen: Well first of all I think the level of effort before and after the naming of Mr. Dudley has been undiminished. What we have planned to do and try to do all along has been kind of independent of senior leadership assignments in BP and it has to do with creating unity of effort and amassing the resources needed to tackle this unprecedented spill.

The challenges we’ve had before us have to do with, had to do with getting boom and skimmers which were in very scarce supply and we have those now in abundant supply especially on skimmers. We will be over 1,000 by the end of this month. And taking the vessels of opportunity and getting them in command and control structures, putting tracking devices and communications equipment on them and then taking control of the airspace through the Air Force, first Air Force at Tyndall.

Those are the things that really significantly impacted performance, they’ve been planned for many weeks, they didn’t happen overnight and we worked steadfastly and doggedly to do that with our state and local partners and with BP the responsible party.

So I think where we’ve been able to go and our, and our performance thus far I think is pretty much independent of that. That’s not to say that leadership is not important and we don’t work very closely together. But we’ve all been focused on the response.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Kristen Hays with Reuters.

Kristen Hays: Yes Admiral, just kind of following on that a little bit, you’ve been working very closely with Bob Dudley for the last three months and you know you will continue to do that until October 1, do you have any concerns about a change over and working with Lamar McKay after that?

Thad Allen: Well, actually I was working with Lamar McKay right at the start of the event and as you know the more senior leadership arrived down at Houston, Tony Hayward and then Bob Dudley was managing director and actually Andy Inglis who’s another member of the board were all down there.

So I think the entire cadre is well known to everybody, I think the task that’s laid out before us is very clear right now. We have absolute priorities on killing the well, maintaining the recovery, making sure the oil is all removed and see if we can do that and making sure the beaches are cleaned up and that the commitment by BP to the people is met and federal oversight requirements are met.

And I think all that is very well known to everybody we’ve all come to know each other pretty well over the last few months and I don’t see any [inaudible] of performance or priorities or effort. I think we’ve gained a lot of momentum in the last six to seven weeks and I think we just need to continue on that line and I think that pretty much reflects, is reflected in the conversations I’ve had with the BP leaders.

Kristen Hays: OK thank you.

Thad Allen: Yes.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Mark Chediak with Bloomberg News.

Mark Chediak: Hi yes, question for the Admiral, I was, I was wondering who is responsible for cementing the casing in the relief well?

Thad Allen: You know I don’t know off had but we can find that out and get it to you. You know a lot of these things are done by subcontractors and there are a lot of them that are out there. And they aggregate together to do what their specialty is and we will get that and pass it to you. I just don’t know off hand.

Mark Chediak: OK thank you.

Thad Allen: Yes.

Operator: Your next question comes from Jason Dearen with the Associated Press.

Jason Dearen: Hi Dr. Lubchenco, this is Jason. I’m wondering if you can talk a little bit more about how much oil NOAA believes is sub sea or on, even on the seafloor and what effort, if you don’t know or have estimates at this point just what efforts are being taken to determine kind of where the oil is underneath the water.

Jane Lubchenco: So thanks for that question Justin. I know, I mean Jason, I know it’s an area that a lot of people are keenly interested in. Let me just make one general comment and then tell you what we’re doing.

The general comment is that the oil that is beneath the surface as far as we can determine is primarily in the water column itself not sitting on the sea floor. So I think that’s an important mis, distinction to make because I think there’s a lot of misconception that’s out there.

The – we along with the other scientists in the federal agencies and independent scientists have been working very diligently from the outset to have an accurate determination of where is the oil to the best of our ability to say so.

And we have developed thanks to many of the research missions from our ships and from many of the satellite and plane data that have been taken are getting close to being able to put together a comprehensive picture of what is still out there, where it is, how much has been removed from the very aggressive skimming and burning and removal efforts.

And so I don’t have numbers for you today but that’s exactly what we are working towards. This is an area that clearly has a lot of interests among the American people and we want to be able to not just give answers but give the right answers.

And that’s exactly what we’re working toward. I think we’re getting very close.

Operator: Your next question comes from Andrew Gully with the AFP.

Andrew Gully: Hi, I’ve got a question for both Admiral and Dr. Lubchenco; I’d be interested in both of your views on this. The President described this originally as the worst environmental disaster to hit the U.S. and yesterday a BP leading expert said that actually the environmental impact would be quite small and that the marshes might even recover by next spring.

Is there a clear – where in that range would you, would you two say that this disaster rates?

Thad Allen: Well, I’ll go first and then let Jane comment. First of all when you put somewhere between three million and 5.2 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico I don’t think anybody can understate the impact and the gravity of that situation.

And since we don’t know what wind and weather will do to the oil, where it will go and the fate of the oil which has a lot to do with it and we don’t know what kind of opportunity we’re going to have to intervene.

We’ve had some good days and bad days out there. I think anybody that classifies this as anything less than catastrophic is not being realistic. Now over the course of years looking at natural resource damage assessments and how the marshes come back we may learn from it.

But I think the American people would expect an overabundance of caution on our part especially in how we’re describing this and while we would all like to see the area come back as quickly as it can I think we all need to understand that we – at least in the history of this country we’ve never put this much oil into the water and we need to take this very seriously.

Jane?

Jane Lubchenco: Thad I think your starting point is exactly the right one and that is simply that the sheer volume of oil that’s out there has to mean there will be some very significant impacts.

We’ve already seen some of those impacts play out in ways that are more obvious, more visual because they’re at the surface. What we have yet to determine is the full impact that the oil will have on not just the shorelines, not just the wildlife, but beneath the surface.

And we have a very aggressive research effort underway to determine exactly that. I would note that the oil that is beneath the surface appears to be being biodegraded relatively quickly so that is positive.

There is still likely a significant amount of oil out there simply because there was so much released. So this is an area where it will take time to evaluate exactly what the impact is both short term and long term and that underscores the importance of having this very aggressive monitoring and research effort underway. So that we can actually better understand this and learn from this.

Andrew Gully: Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Daryl Hohn with [inaudible].

Daryl Hohn: Morning Admiral. My question is did you receive my documentation that indicates that possibly a nuclear submarine had ran into the drill shaft and caused this explosion? And do we know if there’s any evidence of what has caused this to explode?

Thad Allen: Are you, if your talking about the initial explosion on the, on the Deep Water Horizon, no I am not in receipt of any information. We’ll see if we can’t make arrangements for you to get it to me.

I don’t think we have any indication that that did occur, there’s a Marine Board of Investigation that’s been in panel to look at the cause of the accident and that’s actively underway right now in taking testimony of witnesses with subpoena power.

And I think that’s a proper body to determine the cause of the accident, we’re pretty much focused on the response here.

Daryl Hohn: OK thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from Jaqueeta White with Times Picayune.

Jaqueeta White: Hi Admiral, thanks for taking questions, I was hoping you could restate the names of the vessels involved in this mornings accident and explain what their role was if they were working in spill response, what they were doing and what you know at this point about what’s leaking, what’s the boom, what’s happening out there?

Thad Allen: OK you were fading in and out but I think you want a review of what happened this morning’s accident. Let me just, one more time tell you what we do know and we’ll continue to update you as we go throughout the day here.

It appears that the uninspected towing vessel Pere Ana C and that’s p-e-r-e, second word Ana, a-n-a letter C was pushing a barge called the Captain Beauford in the waterway that connects Mud Bay to Lafitte. There is a channel that goes up north of Barataria Bay.

They reportedly collided with an oil and natural gas platform and number C177, there is a light sheen around the platform at this time. There is some vapor emanating we have an overhead picture that shows probably a combination of gas and water vapor and so forth coming into the surface and plus a light sheen.

And we deployed 6,000 foot of boom around that, the helicopter over flight is being conducted with Admiral Zukunft our local unified area commander and Governor Jindal. And we’ll continue to monitor it.

One of the, one of the I guess positive things about having this response going on is we have a significant amount of resources in Barataria Bay including vessels of opportunity. There’s skimming equipment close by and booming equipment although right now we only have an indication there was a light sheen.

We will continue to follow up on this and provide updates but that’s pretty much what we know right now.

Megan Moloney: Operator, at this time we have time for two more calls.

Operator: Thank you your next question will come from Curtis Morgan with The Miami Herald.

Curtis Morgan: Hi this is for Dr. Lubchenco, NOAA put out a report the other day about the plumes, I think there was a figure of like five parts per billion of hydrocarbon concentration somewhere near the well head and it sort of faded off from there.

Can you give us an idea of what a baseline normal range would be in the Gulf and in that kind of water?

Jane Lubchenco: Curtis, there is oil in the Gulf naturally and through various minor leaks and spills. I actually don’t have a figure for that baseline but I can get that for you. And I think the main point here is that the oil that is subsurface is as far as we can tell in very small droplets, microscopic droplets and in very, very dilute concentrations falling off very steeply as one goes away from the well site. Now dilute does not mean benign, but it is in very small concentrations and we continue to measure where it is and track it and try to understand its impact.

Megan Moloney: And we can take a final call, Operator.

Operator: Your final question comes from Susan Baker with Dow Jones Newswire.

Susan Baker: Hi, I was just wondering if – so you said we’re still on schedule Admiral Allen, does that mean we’re looking at the relief well being completed in the second week of August?

Thad Allen: What we’re looking at is this week getting prepared to run the casing liner.

Susan Baker: Yes.

Thad Allen: In advance of being able to do the static kill which will follow that and the bottom kill which will follow that. We think by around next Monday we should be able to proceed with the static kill which we’ll be pumping the mud in through the top.

Susan Baker: Yes.

Thad Allen: I would say approximately five days after that with the cement drying around the casing we’ll be in a position to drill into the annulus and start up from the bottom.

Susan Baker: OK.

Thad Allen: So we’re looking approximately two weeks from now.

Susan Baker: Yes.

Thad Allen: To starting the actual killing of the well from the bottom. But next Monday on the second of August is currently the target date to starting the static top kill.

Susan Baker: OK thank you.

Thad Allen: Was that responsive?

Susan Baker: Yes thank you very much.

Megan Moloney: And that concludes our call today thank you everyone for joining us.

Operator: Thank you ladies and gentlemen, you may now disconnect.

END

July 26, Monday

BP on July 26 provided an update on developments in the response to the MC252 oil well incident in the Gulf of Mexico.

On July 23, with the guidance and approval of the National Incident Commander (NIC) and the leadership and direction of the federal government, relief well activities at the MC252 well site were temporarily suspended because of potentially adverse weather associated with Tropical Storm Bonnie. Following the passing of the weather system, the DDIII drilling rig returned to the relief well site on July 24 and is taking steps necessary to reconnect with the well and resume drilling operations. These steps are expected to take a number of days.

The DDII drilling rig is moving back into position, and will take steps necessary to reconnect to the second relief well. However, work on the second relief well has been suspended so as not to interfere with the first. 

The MC252 well has been successfully shut-in for integrity testing since July 15.

BP continues to closely monitor the MC252 well and well-capping structure, under the guidance of the Unified Command.

July 25, Sunday

 

July 24 Saturday

 

July 23, Friday

BP on July 23 provided an update on developments in the response to the MC252 oil well incident in the Gulf of Mexico.

With the guidance and approval of the National Incident Commander (NIC) and the leadership and direction of federal government, relief well activities at the MC252 well site will be temporarily suspended because of potentially adverse weather associated with Tropical Storm Bonnie, which is projected to track into the Gulf of Mexico. 

The MC252 well remains shut-in at this time. The well has been shut-in for integrity testing the past seven days. 

BP will continue to monitor the MC252 well as long as weather permits. Duration of the suspension of relief well activities will be dependent on the weather.

July 22, Thursday

 

July 21, Wednesday,

July 20, Tuesday

July 19,  Monday

 

BP July 19  provided an update on developments in the response to the MC252 oil well incident in the Gulf of Mexico.

Subsea Source Control and Containment

BP continues to work cooperatively with the guidance and approval of the National Incident Commander and the leadership and direction of federal government including the Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, Federal Science Team, Bureau of Ocean Energy, Management, Regulation and Enforcement, U.S. Coast Guard and secretaries Ken Salazar and Steven Chu. At this time, the well integrity test on the MC252 exploratory well continues. 

During the test, the three ram capping stack has been closed, shutting in the well. All sub-sea containment systems (namely, the Q4000 and Helix Producer systems) have been temporarily suspended. 

The pressure inside the well recently has been measured at approximately 6,792 pounds per square inch and continues to rise slowly. As directed by the National Incident Commander, extensive monitoring activities are being carried out around the well site. Information gathered during the test is being reviewed with the government agencies, including the Federal Science Team, to determine next steps. Depending upon the results of the test and monitoring activities, these steps may include extending the well integrity test or returning to containment options.

Should the test conclude, the Q4000 is expected to resume capturing and flaring oil and gas through the existing system. It has been capturing and flaring an average of 8,000 barrels a day (b/d) of oil in recent weeks. The Helix Producer also is expected to be available to resume capturing oil and flaring gas through the recently installed floating riser system. It has the capacity to capture approximately 20,000 – 25,000 b/d of oil. 

Plans continue for additional containment capacity and flexibility that are expected to ultimately increase recoverable oil volumes to 60,000-80,000 b/d. 

The sealing cap system and many of the other containment systems have never before been deployed at these depths or under these conditions, and their efficiency and ability to contain or flare the oil and gas cannot be assured. 

To date, the total volume of oil collected or flared by the containment systems is approximately 826,800 barrels. Information on the subsea operational status is updated daily on BP’s website, www.bp.com.

Work on the first relief well, which started May 2, continues. The well reached a depth of 17,864 feet as of July 18th and the next scheduled operation is to carry out a ranging run. The first relief well has approached its last casing end point and, following the casing set, additional ranging runs will be used to guide the drill bit to a MC252 well intercept point. After interception, operations are expected to begin to kill the flow of oil and gas from the reservoir by pumping specialized heavy fluids down the relief well. 

The second relief well, which started May 16, is at a measured depth of 15,874 feet and has been temporarily halted so as not to interfere with the ranging runs being performed in the first relief well. 

Although uncertainty remains, the first half of August remains the current estimate of the most likely date by which the first relief well will be completed and kill operations performed.

July 18 

July 17

Surface Spill Response as of July 17

Work continues to collect and disperse oil that has reached the surface of the sea, to protect the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico, and to collect and clean up any oil that has reached shore. 

Approximately 43,100 personnel, more than 6,470 vessels and dozens of aircraft are engaged in the response effort. 

Operations to skim oil continued over the weekend. These operations have recovered, in total, approximately 807,143 barrels (33.9 million gallons) of oily liquid. In addition, a total of 408 controlled burns have been carried out to date, removing an estimated 261,904 barrels of oil (11 million gallons) from the sea’s surface. 

The total length of containment boom deployed as part of efforts to prevent oil from reaching the coast is now almost 3.36 million feet (681.8 miles).

Additional information

To date, almost 116,000 claims have been submitted and more than 67,500 payments have been made, totalling $207 million. 

The cost of the response to date amounts to approximately $3.95 billion, including the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs. On June 16, BP announced an agreed package of measures, including the creation of a $20 billion fund to satisfy certain obligations arising from the oil and gas spill. It is too early to quantify other potential costs and liabilities associated with the incident.

July 16, Friday, Day 88

Information gathered during the test will be reviewed with the relevant government agencies, including the federal science team, to determine next steps.

The sealing cap system never before has been deployed at these depths or under these conditions, and its efficiency and ability to contain the oil and gas cannot be assured.

During the well integrity test, operations on the first relief well have been temporarily stopped while the well was at 17,840 ft as a precaution. Operations on the second relief well have been temporarily suspended at 15,874 feet to ensure that there is no interference with the first relief well. The relief wells remain the sole means to permanently seal and isolate the well.

The well cap will undergo 48 hours of pressure testing.  The ultimate solution is still the relief well which will cement the Macondo well in so that it can never flow again.  

July 14, Wednesday 86

Status of the Relief Wells

Text credit: Michon Scott, NASA’s Earth Observatory

The UAVSAR data will be combined with data collected from other remote sensing instruments, such as the JPL-built and managed Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) optical/infrared instrument , to gain complementary and more comprehensive information about the oil spill and its long-term effects on Gulf ecosystems.