USA: BP Lifts Deepwater Horizon Blow Out Preventer to Surface

BP  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 leadership and direction of the federal government.

Subsea Source Control

The MC252 well has been shut-in since July 15. Following the completion of cementing operations on the well on August 5, pressure testing was performed which indicated there is an effective cement plug in the casing.

A number of operations have been successfully completed to allow the DDIII drilling rig to be in a position to begin drilling the relief well to intercept the MC 252 well annulus.

* The capping stack on top of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) Blow Out Preventer (BOP) was removed by the drillship Discoverer Enterprise on September 2 at 4:25 pm CDT.

* The DWH BOP was successfully removed from the MC252 well by the Q4000 on September 3 at 1:20 pm CDT.

* The DDII moved into place with its BOP, which was then successfully installed on top of the MC252 well on September 3 at 8:33 pm CDT.

* The DWH BOP was lifted to the surface on September 4 at 8:53 p.m. CDT. The DWH BOP was taken into custody by the US Department of Justice as evidence in its ongoing investigation into the incident.

[mappress]

Source: BP, September 5, 2010: