Blown-out well 'to be sealed by Sunday'

The US government’s incident commander for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill said today that BP’s blown-out well is expected to be permanently sealed and declared dead by Sunday, nearly five months after a rig explosion set off the disaster.

National Incident Commander Thad Allen told reporters gathered at a seafood distributor in Kenner, Louisiana, that a relief well is expected to intersect with the blown-out well within 24 hours.

He said mud and cement will then be pumped in, which is expected to seal the blown-out well within four days.

“We are within a 96-hour window of killing the well,” Mr Allen said.

The April 20 explosion killed 11 workers and led to 206 million gallons of oil spewing from the undersea well.

Appearing with Mr Allen, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief Jane Lubchenco said monitoring continues of oil that remains in the Gulf.

Ms Lubchenco stood by earlier government estimates that 50% of the oil that spilled is gone from the water system.

Scientists said earlier this week that they had found thick patches of oil coating the sea floor, raising questions about government conclusions that much of the oil from the spill was gone. Testing is under way this week for chemical fingerprints that would conclusively link that oil to the BP spill.

Mr Allen and Ms Lubchenco sought to reassure hesitant diners from outside the region that Gulf seafood is safe to eat during their appearance outside the Louisiana Fish House. Mr Allen noted that he has eaten Gulf seafood every day for the last several days.

“In short, folks want to know if it is safe to eat, swim and fish, and that is the kind of information we are committed to identifying answers to those questions,” Ms Lubchenco said.

Gulf shrimpers are currently producing just 20% of their normal production for this time of year – because demand is down sharply and because supply is not where it should be in part due to the fact that some shrimpers are wary of taking on the expense of fishing if they cannot sell their catch, according to Ewell Smith, executive director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board.

Mr Allen also said he plans to step down as incident commander on October 1 - the same day BP installs American Bob Dudley as its new chief executive to replace Tony Hayward.

Mr Allen will be replaced by Coast Guard Rear Admiral Paul Zukunft. The move is not a surprise. Mr Allen had said previously that he would transition out of his current role by late September or early October.

Mr Allen said in an interview after the news conference that the timing of the transition is not connected to BP’s leadership change.

“I worked well with Tony Hayward and I work well with Bob Dudley,” Mr Allen said. “I like to think I work well with anybody.”