Efforts continue on Gulf spill

BP claimed today it has made progress in containing the catastrophic oil spill in Gulf of Mexico that resulted from a rig exploding one month ago.

The oil giant stated it put in place a riser insertion tube tool (RITT) containment system in the end of the leaking riser yesterday. Efforts were made during the day to flow the oil and gas through the tool up to the drillship Discoverer Enterprise on the surface 5,000 feet above.

Any oil produced is currently being stored on the drillship while produced gas is being flared. BP has stated it will take some time to increase the flow through the system and maximise the proportion of oil and gas flowing through the broken riser that will be captured and transported to the drillship.

The RITT is fabricated from a 10cm diameter pipe fashioned to allow one end to be inserted into the broken riser pipe that is the source of the main oil flow from the well, and the other to be connected to a drill pipe and riser from the Discoverer Enterprise. The system allows the injection of methanol to mitigate against the formation of gas hydrates.