clearly we need to pump cement. if we do it from the top we might alter what we do with the relief well. but the relief well is still part of the solution. the ultimate objective is getting this well permanently sealed. admiral allen responding, the well will not be killed until we do the bottom kill and do whatever needs to be done. i am the national incident commander and i issue the orders. this will not be done until we do the bottom kill. wait, there s more. oil industry expert bob cavnar warning us engineers might regret cementing the well from above too soon. with today s procedure, he said bp sealed off the only way it has to tell what s really been going on below the surface. something it will want to know when the company intercepts the blown-out well with the relief well. if any part of the well in between the cement plug above and relief wells below has ruptured, they will have no way of gauging the pressure to find out whether or not that has happened. that the well hasn t
once again, we have expanded our language at the trivial expense of just a little oil in the gulf of mexico. static kill. our third story in the countdown, after allowing 5 million barrels of oil to poison the ocean, bp is once again putting its hopes into a glorified injection of mud. the obvious question is, will it work? perhaps the more important one is, how will we know? in a moment, bob cavnar will join us. tests earlier in the day prompting bp to go ahead with its critical so-called static kill effort, in which once again heavy drilling mud is pumped into the top of the well. the operation intended to help plug the unstable well. it was sealed with a temporary cap last month. it could last, the operation, that is, until thursday. engineers won t know for more than a week if the procedure worked. and while bp maintains static kill may be enough to seal the well, retired coast guard admiral thad allen, who s in charge there, insists the gusher will have to be plugged from two diff
so-called bottom kill. more mud and cement will be injected into bedrock 2 1/2 miles below the sea floor. this as new estimates are out at the bp price tag. the company could be fined as much as $21 billion if it is found to have committed gross negligence or willful misconduct. the fine could drop to $17.6 billion if the government credits the company for the oil it has already recovered. joining us once again tonight, former oil executive, bob cavnar, who writes about the industry at dailyhurricane.com. he s also author of disaster on the horizon, which is due out in october. good evening, bob. hi, keith. static kill. where did this one come from? have we heard of this before? it gets confusing sometimes. well, that s the latest part of the most recent shape shift of bp. when admiral allen compelled bp to go ahead with the capping stack, you ll remember that they came up with this well integrity test that ran for supposed to
so-called bottom kill. more mud and cement will be injected into bedrock 2 1/2 miles below the sea floor. this as new estimates are out at the bp price tag. the company could be fined as much as $21 billion if it is found to have committed gross negligence or willful misconduct. the fine could drop to $17.6 billion if the government credits the company for the oil it has already recovered. joining us once again tonight, former oil executive, bob cavnar, who writes about the industry at dailyhurricane.com. he s also author of disaster on the horizon, which is due out in october. good evening, bob. hi, keith. static kill. where did this one come from? have we heard of this before? it gets confusing sometimes. well, that s the latest part of the most recent shape shift of bp. when admiral allen compelled bp to go ahead with the capping stack, you ll remember that they came up with this well integrity test that ran for supposed to be for six to 48 hours, ended up