British oil producer BP said on Monday it restarted relief well drilling operations as part of its plan to seal permanently its failed well in the Gulf of Mexico.
BP said in a release on its Web site the crew on the Development Driller III resumed drilling at 1:40 p.m. CDT following the successful installation of a lock-down sleeve, a mechanical device securing the MC252 well's casing hangar.
The crew is drilling toward the MC252 well intercept point, currently about 50 feet below. Once the rig's drill bit intercepts the well annulus -- a space between the well casing and inside piping -- heavy drilling mud and cement will be pumped into the space to complete the isolation of the MC252 well.
The effort to seal the well permanently has been ongoing since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers. Before the well was temporarily plugged 87 days later, more than 200 million gallons of crude flowed into the gulf, making it the worst known off-shore spill in world history.
BP said in a release on its Web site the crew on the Development Driller III resumed drilling at 1:40 p.m. CDT following the successful installation of a lock-down sleeve, a mechanical device securing the MC252 well's casing hangar.
The crew is drilling toward the MC252 well intercept point, currently about 50 feet below. Once the rig's drill bit intercepts the well annulus -- a space between the well casing and inside piping -- heavy drilling mud and cement will be pumped into the space to complete the isolation of the MC252 well.
The effort to seal the well permanently has been ongoing since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers. Before the well was temporarily plugged 87 days later, more than 200 million gallons of crude flowed into the gulf, making it the worst known off-shore spill in world history.
