BP: (admits) More Gas In Gulf Leak Than Earlier Thought;To Try Small Dome

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BP:More Gas In Gulf Leak Than Earlier Thought;To Try Small Dome
HOUSTON (Dow Jones)

After a rapidly freezing mix of natural gas and water derailed attempts to place a big underwater dome on top of a deepwater well leaking oil into the Gulf of Mexico, BP Plc (BP) hopes a smaller dome will do the trick, Chief Executive Tony Hayward said Monday.

The big dome failed because "there's a lot more gas involved in the leak than we had hitherto believed" that combined with water to form hydrates that clogged a 12-inch opening at the top of the structure, said Hayward. The new steel dome--five feet in diameter, five feet tall and shaped like a "top hat"-- will be ready to deploy within 72 hours, the executive said in a meeting with reporters at BP's Houston campus.

The company will pump methanol into the new dome to keep ice from forming, he said. Also, the smaller size of the structure should keep water out.

Hayward's comments came after several attempts to shut off the 5,000 barrel-a-day spill--ranging from the giant subsea dome to shutting off a giant underwater blow-out preventer using robots--have failed.

But BP is still trying to fight the spill on the surface, at the shoreline and at the well site, the CEO said. Concurrently with the small dome, BP is drilling a relief well to kill the leaking well, an effort that is expected to take months. A second, back-up relief well will be drilled starting at the end of the week, "probably Friday," he said.



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