Relief Well Should Reach Wellhead by Weekend

'Everything's looking good,' well could be dead in 2 weeks
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 21, 2010 7:56 AM CDT
Relief Well Should Reach Wellhead by Weekend
Vessels gather at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill site over the Gulf of Mexico, off the Louisiana coast, Tuesday, July 20, 2010.    (Gerald Herbert)

BP's relief well should finally reach its broken wellhead by the weekend, says federal coordinator Thad Allen, meaning the gusher could be snuffed for good within two weeks. BP vice president Kent Wells said crews hope to drill sideways into the blown-out well and intercept it at the end of July. After the relief well's done, crews will begin the kill procedure, pumping mud and cement into the hole a mile underwater to seal it, which BP says could take anywhere from five days to a couple of weeks.

"Everything's looking good," Wells said. "The relief well is exactly where we want it. It's pointed in the right direction, and so we're feeling good about that." Meanwhile, the oil giant was quick to dismiss yesterday's report by the Times of London that CEO Tony Hayward would be out of a job before October so the company could guard against a buyout by Royal Dutch Shell or ExxonMobil, reports Reuters. Despite Hayward's bumbling leadership, "There's more than enough blame to spread around here," says one insider.
(More Adm. Thad Allen stories.)

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