Can the oil leak in the gulf be stopped?

Answer 1

Yes.

It will be stopped. The current plan calls for the completion of relief wells in August. The relief wells are the conventional means of killing a blown out well. The blow out occurred on April 20, and it took 13 days to get all the required equipment and approvals to drill the first relief well. It takes 3 months to drill a well to the required depth of 13,000 ft below the sea floor. Heavy drill mud will continously be pump until the well stops flowing. It may take several days before the well finally dies. The well will be filled with cement. I expect the blowout preventer will be removed using the ROV's for inspection.

I can't say everything will go as plan, and if there are unforeseen circumstances, the completion of drilling could go beyond August. I consider this an unlikely event, particularly since progress on drilling has been good.

The top kill was done to try to save some time. It was an unproved method at 5,000 ft of water.

The latest news is that the leak has been stopped.

Answer 2

BP stated in April, soon after the spill began, that they would start immediately on the most proven method to permanently plug the well, by drilling two relief wells. They started the first well on May 2, which is 13 days after the spill began. Given all the contracts that need to be reviewed and signed, and all permits, this is incredibly fast.

There are two wells being drilled from two semi-submersible rigs. BP has stated that the wells will be complete in early August to the depth of the blown out well. At this point, heavy mud will be pumped down the wells, and the pressure at the bottom will be sufficient to kill the well.

Because the drilling of relief wells takes 3 months (you just can't drill through more than 4,000 ft of rock in a month, no rig can do better!) , they tried to shorten the time by attempting a top kill, which did not have a good chance of success.

The current capture of escaping oil with the marine riser + cap will reduce the impact of the spill, but it does not kill the well. In August, the permanent solution to fill the well, top to bottom with cement will be implemented.