Update on Gulf of Mexico MC252 Operations

HOUSTON - BP today provided an update on developments in the response to the MC252 oil well incident in the Gulf of Mexico. BP continues to work with the guidance and approval of the National Incident Commander and in cooperation with the federal government.
Subsea Source Control
Relief well drilling from the Development Driller III (DD3) re-started at 7:15 a.m. on Wednesday, and operations completed drilling the final 45 feet of hole. This drilling activity culminated with the intercept of the MC252 annulus and subsequent confirmation at 4:30 p.m. CDT Thursday. Total measured depth on the DD3 for the annulus intercept point was 17,977 feet.

Operations conducted bottoms up circulation, which returned the contents of the well’s annulus to the rig for evaluation. Testing of the drilling mud recovered from the well indicated that no hydrocarbons or cement were present at the intersect point. Therefore, no annulus kill is necessary, and the annulus cementing will proceed as planned. It is expected that the MC252 well will be completely sealed on Saturday.

Once cementing operations are complete, the DD3 will begin standard plugging and abandonment procedures for the relief well.

The Development Driller II continues its work to gather additional data from the MC252 well and try to determine the location of the drill pipe that was originally in the well at the time of the accident. Subsequently plug and abandonment activities will commence in accordance with the approved procedure.

Information on the subsea operational status is updated daily on BP’s website, www.bp.com