BP
engineers began a critical test of their leaking Gulf of Mexico oil
well on Wednesday evening in an effort to determine if the pipes were
structurally sound enough to allow them to seal off the gushing crude. The test will measure the pressure
inside the well. High-pressure readings for at least 48 hours may
suggest that the well casings are relatively undamaged, which could mean
it is safe to leave the well capped from above. And that, of course,
would mean the incessant gush of oil, which has already despoiled
ecosystems, livelihoods and lives, may finally stop, perhaps by the end
of the week.
But the test itself is risky business. It requires that the well be sealed off temporarily with a snug, specially constructed capping stack that was latched onto the top of the well on Monday. And much like a thumb in a hole-studded garden hose, the cap could push oil out of any cracks that might exist in the well.
That scenario, in turn, could cause oil to seep upward and begin gushing from the sea bed, potentially turning the well into a ragged crater. “That is THE worst case scenario,” said Iraj Ershaghi, a petroleum engineering expert at the University of Southern California. “Nobody has the technology to handle that.”
Read more: BusinessMirror.com.
