Well cap testing procedure begins

HOUSTON, July 14 (UPI) -- Test procedures for the new Deepwater Horizon oil well cap in the Gulf of Mexico got under way Wednesday evening, the Obama administration said.

"Test procedures have begun, starting with the disconnection of both the Q4000 and the Helix Producer," the administration said on its gulf oil spill response Web site.

Earlier in the day, President Barack Obama talked by phone with retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident commander, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu and other senior administration officials. The administration Tuesday had ordered BP to delay the tests until concerns from the scientific community were addressed and there were adequate assurances the procedures would cause no irreparable harm to the well bore.

"Based on new information and analysis, Secretary Chu and other scientists concluded that the test should now proceed with several modifications and safety requirements," the White House said in a statement following the president's conversation with his advisers.

There is to be additional seismic testing and monitoring from remote underwater vehicles "as well as acoustic and temperature monitoring throughout the duration of the well integrity test," than planned earlier, the White House said.

The test will take up to 48 hours and will include periodic assessments in 6-hour increments, the White House said.

With the Q4000 and the Helix Producer oil collection systems disconnected, more oil will flow into the gulf. More than 40 skimming vessels and other equipment were positioned nearby to help contain the leaking oil.

The tests are meant to ascertain the condition of the well and the cap's capacity to shut the well off.

Kent Wells, a BP senior vice president, said at a briefing in Houston drilling of relief wells, still considered the ultimate solution to stopping the leak, would be stopped during the test as a precaution.

The test will shut the well by closing off valves on a tight-cap installed at the wellhead, 5,000 feet below the gulf's surface, officials said. If the test shows the well can hold pressure, the valves may remain closed, ending the spill that began April 20 when the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, killing 11 workers, then sank two days later.

If the tests indicate the well is damaged, the flow could still be stopped by increased collection of oil and flaring while the relief well is completed.

"It's very clear," Wells said when describing the pressure test. "What we're looking for is for pressure to build up. The higher the better."

Allen has said the well cap placement is part a "very complex, nuanced and broad-based response" to the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration sent BP and other responsible parties a $99.7 million bill relating to the oil spill. The fourth bill is in addition to a total of $122.3 million in the first three bills.