This may be of interest to some here.
HONG KONG — While BP tries various short-term efforts to plug a leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, the company is preparing to drill a relief well as a backup plan. BP hopes to drill that well diagonally to intersect the original one and then flood it with mud and cement to stop the uncontrolled flow.
Although the idea sounds simple, the experience with a similar spill last year near Australia shows just how difficult it can be to execute the maneuver.
“It’s like finding a needle in a haystack,” said Rachel Siewert, an Australian senator who is a member of the country’s opposition Greens Party and is critical of the oil industry.
The Australian accident, known as the Montara spill, began Aug. 21 with a blowout of high-pressure oil similar to the one in the gulf. With the well spewing 17,000 to 85,000 gallons per day, precious weeks passed before the relief wells were started. When efforts got under way, the first four relief wells — drilled on Oct. 6, 13, 17 and 24 — missed the original well.
A fifth well finally intersected the original on Nov. 1, and about 3,400 barrels of heavy mud were pumped into the base of the original well. The spewing oil finally stopped on Nov. 3 — more than 10 weeks after the original explosion.
BP intends to drill a similar relief well close to the site where the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig blew up and sank in the gulf nearly two weeks ago. The company says the well could take months to complete. In the meantime, the well continues to leak 210,000 gallons of oil a day, according to the latest official estimates.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/03/us/03montara.html I wasn't sure exactly how the "relief well" was supposed to work and found this informative. Basically, if it goes as planned, it's a backdoor into the current tap. The stickler is the casing they're attempting to tap into is only 7" in diameter.