the oil giant may begin the static kill procedure as early as this evening, pumping mud and cement into the crippled oil well as part of a one-two punch that officials believe will stop the flow of crude once and for all.
“We want to confirm that we can inject the oil that’s in the well bore back into the reservoir,” BP Senior Vice President Kent Wells told reporters today, according to a report in The Washington Post.
The static kill is expected to push the oil back down into its reservoir more than two miles below the surface, adding an extra layer of mud — and security — between the oil and the Gulf of Mexico before the “bottom kill” finishes the job. The cap that stopped the flow of crude two weeks ago has held, but it was always regarded as a temporary solution.
“The only thing that separates the oil from the sea now is the valve. This puts thousands of feet of mud and cement in between,” Eric Smith, associate director of the Tulane Energy Institute, told The Associated Press. “The idea is to have as many barriers as possible between the ocean and the reservoir. We’re adding an extra level of safety.”
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