Final operations to kill BP's catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil well have been delayed due to an impending storm, probably until next week, US spill chief Thad Allen said today.
There is no danger of the storm reopening the plugged well, which caused the largest maritime oil spill of all time, but Allen said he had decided to suspend the drilling of the crucial relief well as a precaution.
After drilling 17,909 feet (5,426 metres) below sea level, the first relief well is about 30 feet from intercepting the stricken Macondo well, although the last bit is by far the trickiest and most time-consuming part.
The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said there was a 70% chance of the weather system developing off the west coast of Florida becoming a tropical storm in the next 48 hours.
'We don't necessarily expect gale force winds but we expect the weather to be choppy enough out there,' said Allen. 'Terminating the drilling operations and holding still where they're at was the best thing to do until the front passed through,' he added.
BP performed a static kill operation last week that suppressed the gushing oil with mud and cemented in the main drill pipe. But there is still concern that the area between the pipe and the outer well bore could contain hydrocarbons.
The well ruptured when the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig sank on April 22, two days after a massive explosion that killed 11 workers.
As operations continued in the Gulf of Mexico, the US government was reportedly closing in on a deal with BP to see its verbal commitment to fill up a $20 billion disaster fund become a legal obligation.
BP yesterday deposited a first installment of $3 billion into a special bank account that will compensate thousands of Gulf residents and businesses hit by the largest maritime oil spill of all time.
But The Wall Street Journal reported that US President Barack Obama's administration was still holding discussions with the energy giant on how it intends to guarantee it will pay the remaining $17 billion.
BP has said it plans to pay an additional $2 billion into the fund in the fourth quarter of the year, followed by further deposits of $1.25 billion each quarter after that until an original pledge of $20 billion is met.
The Obama administration is apparently concerned that BP might not live up to its word, especially if it runs into further financial or legal trouble, and is seeking to use BP's future revenues as collateral.
BP is the operator of 89 producing wells in the Gulf of Mexico and a stakeholder in 60 others and the report said it is considering using the revenue from some 400,000 barrels of oil a day from these as collateral.
