BP Tries Again

BP says in the latest procedure, it will use robots to slice off the leaking riser pipe where it connects to the blow-out preventer, the huge stack of valves that sits on the seabed atop the ruptured well. A containment cap with a rubber seal will be placed over the cut riser and will draw up the oil and gas through a pipe to a ship.

One early indicator of how well the new procedure is going will be whether the undersea robots are able to cut the riser pipe cleanly, so that the cap can be seated on a smooth surface and the seal works to prevent oil from leaking out.

Viewers of the live feed BP is streaming from the well site could see whether there is a reduction in the volume of oil and gas escaping around the seal. That would indicate that the cap is seated properly and is capturing oil.

WSJ