BP Spots Third Leak from Deepwater Horizon Riser; NOAA Estimates Oil Leaking at Up to 5,000 BPD

BP, in its monitoring of Deepwater Horizon’s blowout preventer (BOP) on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico, has identified a third leak in the riser of the deep underwater well, according to Doug Suttles, chief operating officer for BP Exploration and Production, during a press conference on the incident response held yesterday. (Earlier post.)

US Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry, the federal on-scene coordinator for the Deepwater Horizon Response unified command, said that the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) now estimates that as much as 5,000 bpd could be flowing from the riser. Initial estimates had put the leak from the well drilled by the sunken Deepwater Horizon at 1,000 bpd.

Suttles said that BP was holding to the initial estimate of 1,000 bpd, but also said that 5,000 was within the range of uncertainty for the amount. The newly discovered leak is just beyond the top of the blowout preventer.

Admiral Landry said that the Federal government was calling on BP to supplement the current mobilization, and to “begin consulting with the Department of Defense to explore ways to use technologies that may surpass capabilities of the commercial sector”.

Workers have finished fabricating the containment chamber portion of a collection dome that will be deployed to the sea floor to collect oil as it escapes from the well.

Work will now begin on the piping system that will bring the oil to the surface for collection; this method has never been tried at this depth before.

The first rig to be used for drilling a relief or cut-off well is on site and should begin drilling approximately ½ a mile from the well head on Friday. The relief well will not be complete for several months.

Responders are still figuring out new ways to use Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) to try to trigger the blowout preventer (BOP), a series of valves that sits at the well head. These efforts will continue concurrent with the collection dome and relief well(s).

A flyover on Wednesday, 28 April at 2:00 p.m. (CDT), continued to show a large, rainbow sheen with areas of emulsified crude, now approximately 16 miles off the coast of Louisiana.

On April 28 at approximately 4:45 p.m. (CDT), the response team conducted a successful, controlled in-situ burn and is evaluating conducting additional burns.

More than 174,060 feet of boom (barrier) has been assigned to contain the spill. An additional 243,260 feet is available and 265,460 feet has been ordered.

To date, the oil spill response team has recovered 18,180 barrels (763,560 gallons) of an oil-water mix. Vessels are in place and continuing recovery operations. 76 response vessels are being used including skimmers, tugs, barges and recovery vessels.

98,361 gallons of dispersant have been deployed and an additional 75,000 gallons are available. Five staging areas are in place in an effort to protect sensitive shorelines.