BP remains on schedule to intercept the Macondo blowout in the US Gulf in about two weeks, the head of the US response told reporters today.

Noah Brenner  29 July 2010 01:22 GMT

The storm packer that was placed in the bore to secure it during Tropical Storm Bonnie is being removed, retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen told reporters Wednesday.

Crews on Transocean semi-submersible rig Development Driller 3 will run the final 2000 feet of 9-7/8 inch casing and cement it in place over the weekend.

By Monday, BP plans to try the first phase of the operation to kill the well – the static top kill.

The Helix Energy Solutions service platform Q4000, will pump drilling mud through the kill line of the old Macondo blowout preventer to tamp down the flow of the well.

Most likely the mud will be followed by cement but BP will not make that decision until after mud has killed the well and it has been monitored.

The whole process will take about 24 hours.

The Q4000 is already in place, hooked to mud and pumping vessels, but BP wants to make sure the relief well is cased and secure before beginning the job.

For an explanation of the kill efforts go here.

After the top kill , Development Driller 3 can begin drilling the final 100 vertical feet into the annulus of Macondo, which is expected to take about five days because crews will stop every 20 to 25 feet to locate the Macondo wellbore.

When the rig hits the annulus it will begin pumping mud for the bottom kill operation,

Once any flow in the annulus has been stopped, the mud will be followed with cement.

Finally, the semisub will drill into the main bore to ensure that the kill and cement job from the static kill was effective.

For a diagram of the relief well go here.

Right now, it looks like the weather over the next week will be clear at the location, but BP exec Kent Wells acknowledged that weather could further set back the operation if it turns sour.

“Weather is always our worst enemy,” he said Tuesday.

Pressure on the capping stack that has kept Macondo shut for almost two weeks is at about 6942 pounds per square inch and rising at less than 1 psi per hour.

Monitoring has not revealed any concerns about the integrity of the well, Wells said.

Published: 29 July 2010 01:22 GMT  | Last updated: 29 July 2010 01:23 GMT