24.7.10

Development Driller: riser pipe going back in


The Development Driller III, which is drilling the first of two relief wells designed to kill the leak, is "moving back to the site," BP spokesman Steve Rinehart said. Rinehart added that it was unclear when the vessel would be back. This drill rig working on a relief well is returning to the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill as a tropical storm that caused its evacuation petered over the U.S. Gulf of Mexico,

Before the evacuation was decreed late Thursday, the rig was completing the casing of a relief well, in preparation for it to intersect with the well that has spewed millions of barrels of crude in the Gulf. The intersection was scheduled for the end of July before the evacuation happened. It will take 48 hours to lay the casing once operations restart, retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who heads the federal oil spill response effort, said in a conference Friday. Last night, Development Driller II and Development Driller III were directed to detach from their drill sites. This in effect means they’re disconnecting from the lower marine riser package.

"They are in the process right now of pulling the riser pipe. For those of you who are familiar, that is a very huge section of pipe. It comes in anywhere from 40 to 60 foot sections, it has to be disassembled and put on deck of the, of the drilling rigs."
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