BP: effort to plug Gulf oil spill going as planned (Mud may be flowing instead of oil)

[onehandle]

Source: AP, MSNBC

COVINGTON, La. – BP started pumping heavy mud into the leaking Gulf of Mexico well Wednesday and said everything was going as planned in the company's boldest attempt yet to plug the gusher that has spewed millions of gallons of oil over the last five weeks.

BP hoped the mud could overpower the steady stream of oil, but chief executive Tony Hayward said it would be at least 24 hours before officials know whether the attempt has been successful. The company wants to eventually inject cement into the well to seal it.

"I'm sure many of you have been watching the plume," Hayward said from Houston. "All I can say is it is unlikely to give us any real indication of what is going on. Either increases or decreases are not an indicator of either success or failure at this time."

snip...

"We're doing everything we can to bring it to closure, and actually we're executing this top kill job as efficiently and effectively as we can," BP Chief Operating Officer Suttles said Wednesday night.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_gulf_oil_spill

---

MSNBC captions as the operation seemed to start making progress:

BP: 'It appears drilling mud, not oil, gushing from ruptured undersea well.'

'Cannot be confirmed until sampled.' (may take a day)

'If material stops flowing completely, they will know they are fully successful.'

'Top Kill Procedure proceeding as planned.'

Rachel interviewed Rep. Markey and we learned:
Twelve different camera angles of the leak are being broadcasted into the Capitol thanks to Democratic Congressman Edward Markey and his Mac.

[Cal Carpenter]

1. *fingerscrossed*

:popcorn:

[Delphinus]

2. Can someone

*other* than BP confirm this?

[doublethink]

4. Lot of knowledgable people at this link .....

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6511#comments_top

are guessing along the same lines ..... go to the last 1/4 of the thread of comments .... they have some concerns but are posting some very hopeful stuff too ...

[Drunken Irishman]

3. God I hope.

[gristy]

5. Can some tell me how this mud is supposed to get stuck in the BOP and/or the riser pipe?

Cause if it's a liquid, heavy as it may be, it seems that it's just going to keep gushing out of that pipe as fast as they can pump it in.

[Downwinder]

6. Next comes cement.

[tekisui]

7. THey will follow it with a cement plug.

If I understand correctly.

[EarlG]

8. According to Bill Nye on MSNBC earlier

This "mud" has a special property that causes it to solidify under pressure - the greater the pressure, the more it "stiffens". So when the gushing oil pushes against it, it blocks the pipe.

[tomm2thumbs]

10. thanks - that helped knowing a detail like that /nt

[Cal Carpenter]

11. Interesting

Reminds me of this thing we did when I was a kid - mixing corn starch and water, and when you squeezed it it would get hard and hold the shape of your hand for a bit, when you released it it would basically melt back into pasty goo...

[CreekDog]

12. as the proportion of mud rises in the BOP and then down the hole of the well

that's the key. or so i read.

[Kali]

17. good graphic here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8425437&mesg_id=8425633

[eleny]

9. k&r for this good news

[donco6]

13. hope hope hope. n/t

[kirby]

14. Something bad may have just happened...

Looking at the feed. I believe the feed that shows 3 plumes was a piece of weaken riser pipe they were worried about. It looks like it may have burst.

This is total speculation on my part based on video observation, so take it with a grain of salt for now.

[Mythbuster]

15. Thought the same thing...

I noticed the several smaller "plumes" seemed to suddenly become a more potent single stream in the center. Is that what you were looking at as well??

[kirby]

16. Yes, exactly...

The multiple plumes I believe were small holes in the pipe. At least one seems to have burst and is spewing out enough oil to obstruct the video.

[Mythbuster]

18. Yeah...

It's so cloudy now you can hardy make out the pipe.

[Botany]

19. BP Attempts ‘Top Kill’ Method to Seal Oil Well in Gulf

Source: NY Times

“The operation is proceeding as we planned it,” said Tony Hayward, BP’s chief executive, in a statement Wednesday evening. “We will be continuing
for at least another 24 hours.”

Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer for exploration and production, said at a news conference Wednesday evening that it would be a day or
more before it was clear whether the top kill had worked. “It’s too early to know if it’s going to be successful,” Mr. Suttles said.

snip

But throughout the afternoon, as the blowout preventer filled with mud at increasing pressures apparently with no rupture, engineers following
the procedure were more hopeful.

“They are probably pressured up to full pressure, and nothing has ruptured yet,” said Donald Van Nieuwenhuise, director of petroleum geoscience
programs at the University of Houston, four hours after the maneuver began. “It’s a good sign because it means everything is holding together.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/us/27spill.html

---

Please let this work and let this news be true.

[gateley]

20. The article said with each passing hour they become more hopeful it'll work -

thanks for this article.

I just pulled up a feed -- Offline. Do you know if any cameras are operational right now? Thanks.