Following a meeting with US Energy Secretary Steven Chu and his team of scientific and industry experts, the National Incident Commander announced that additional analysis of the well testing procedure should be performed before starting the well integrity test. This analysis will be conducted tonight and into tomorrow. Consequently, the well integrity test did not start today.
During this period, BP will continue to ramp up containment operations on the Helix Producer as well as continue to optimise the Q4000 operations. The Helix Producer has the capacity to capture approximately 20,000 – 25,000 barrels of oil per day. Historically, the Q4000 has flared an average of approximately 8,000 barrels of oil per day.
Whilst installation of the new cap was in process on Tuesday, BP, trying not to raise expectations, said that the sealing cap system, the Q4000 system, the flexible riser system, and the planned additional containment systems have not been deployed at these depths or under these conditions before. Â The company also did not guarantee their efficiency and ability to contain or flare the oil and gas.
Operations continue on the first relief well and BP says it will assess whether or not the new cap can withstand the pressure created by closing the gushing wellhead.
“We decided that the process may benefit from additional analysis that will be performed tonight and tomorrow,” retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who is overseeing the US response to the spill, said in a statement.
A new date and time for beginning the critical stress test has not been disclosed by either BP or the coast guard.
Operations on the second relief well have been temporarily suspended at 15,963 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.
Asset sell-offs
BP’s latest efforts to shore up sales of $10 billion worth of assets to pay for the massive clean up has highlighted the pounding the British oil giant’s shares have taken. Â According to Jason Kenny, an analyst at ING in Edinburgh, the company’s net assets are valued around $80 billion more than its actual market value.
He said about seven non-core assets – including some in Alaska, Colombia, Venezuela and Vietnam – could be worth $45-50 billion alone.
BP divested a small non-core downstream asset on Tuesday, selling Magellan Midstream Partners L.P., its crude oil storage tanks in Cushing, Oklahoma and related petroleum pipelines for US$289 million.
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan said the emirate was considering investing in BP.
“We are still thinking about it,” Bloomberg quoted him as saying when asked about buying a stake in the firm.
BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward visited Abu Dhabi last week and met with the sovereign wealth fund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).
