[NeilBlanchard]

BP Sought To Ease Canadian Rule For Relief Wells : NPR

Energy giant BP told Canadian regulators in March that relief wells are an "after-the-fact tactic" in controlling oil well blowouts, less than a month before the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that the company hopes to stop by drilling two relief wells.

A relief well is the oil industry's gold standard for killing a blowout. In the Gulf, BP's drillers are guiding the two wells to intersect the 7-inch well pipe of the uncontrolled well; the pipe could then be plugged with cement.

But the first rig wasn't able to set its drill bit into the mud until 13 days after the April 20 blowout on the Deepwater Horizon; the second rig, 28 days after the accident. French said it would take an additional 90 to 120 days to reach the damaged well pipe.

Instead, BP emphasized preventive technology and practices, many of which have now been called into question due to the catastrophe in the Gulf.

Most notably, the company said it has a "rigid policy requirement," calling for two barriers to hold down the surging oil and gas in a well: heavy drilling mud in the pipe and a blowout preventer at the wellhead.

The drilling mud was intentionally removed on the Deepwater Horizon rig before a cement plug was installed. The blowout preventer then failed.