BP's effort to seal its crippled well in the Gulf of Mexico through a "static kill" went "extremely well," according to the company's senior vice president -- and now it is considering whether to add cement on top of the 2,300 barrels of mud that pushed oil back down into the reservoir.
But BP still plans to permanently seal the well with additional mud and cement through a relief well that is expected to completed in mid-August. The "bottom kill" through the relief well would amount to an insurance policy that the well has been sealed for good.
Wells said drilling on the relief well is expected to resume Thursday.Wednesday marked the 107th day since the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history began with the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon that sank the rig and killed 11 workers. The government estimates that nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil spilled into the Gulf.
But Wells noted that it has been 24 days since the well was capped.
The well-killing procedure began Tuesday afternoon and continued for some eight hours. BP pumped heavy drilling mud into the well from a ship on the surface mostly at the rate of five barrels a minute, said Senior Vice President Kent Wells. That eventually increased to 10 and then 15 barrels a minute near the end of the operation, he said.
"It was an encouraging day," Wells said in a telephone conference Wednesday afternoon. "Everything proceeded exactly as we expected it to."
While it may be difficult to find much oil on the surface for skimming ships to collect, local officials are quick to point out that coastal areas are still being affected.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries issued a report Wednesday indicating that oil sheen and patches of oil are still being spotted in marshes and various coastal areas in St. Bernard, Paquemines and Jefferson parishes.
And in another development Wednesday, Louisiana wildlife officials and the state's Special Investigations Unit said two men had been arrested and accused of falsifying documents to file claims with BP.On Wednesday, Obama made note of the progress in containing BP's well, as he spoke before the AFL-CIO executive committee in Washington.
The move essentially seals the well, which had poured oil into the Gulf for nearly three months until a tight-fitting cap was placed on it in mid-July.
"It's getting very difficult to find any oil on the surface, but I want to emphasize that BP remains committed to getting this well permanently shut and cleaning up any pollution and restoring the Gulf Coast," Wells said. "That was our commitment from the beginning, and we're just as committed to that today."
"The long battle to stop the leak and contain the oil is finally close to coming to an end, and we are very pleased with that," he said.
Carol Browner, director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy, echoed that in an appearance on CNN's Situation Room. She told Wolf Blitzer, "It's not mission accomplished, but obviously, it's an important day."