Well testing continues; government gets BP answers on seep

Testing on a capped oil well in the Gulf of Mexico will continue for another day, officials said Monday, as the federal government says it has received satisfactory answers from BP regarding a seep near the well.

Thad Allen, the federal government's oil spill response director, said Monday that a federal science team and BP representatives had discussed several issues during a Sunday night conference call, including the "possible observation of methane over the well."

"During the conversation, the federal science team got the answers they were seeking and the commitment from BP to meet their monitoring and notification obligations," Allen said in a statement.

On Sunday, Allen said that testing had revealed a "seep a distance from the well." He ordered the company to notify the government if other leaks were found.

"When seeps are detected, you are directed to marshal resources, quickly investigate, and report findings to the government in no more than four hours," Allen said in a letter to BP Chief Managing Director Bob Dudley released late Sunday.

On Monday, Allen noted that he had alerted BP on Sunday to "a number of unanswered questions about the monitoring systems they committed to as a condition of the U.S. government extending the well integrity test." After a Sunday night conference call, Allen said, he authorized BP to continue the integrity tests for another 24 hours.

"I restated our firm position that this test will only continue if they continue to meet their obligations to rigorously monitor for any signs that this test could worsen the overall situation," he said. "At any moment, we have the ability to return to the safe containment of the oil on the surface until the time the relief well is completed and the well is permanently killed."

In his letter Sunday, Allen gave BP 24 hours to provide the containment plan and schedule that the company would put in place if testing was suspended.

BP's statement Monday said the company was carrying out extensive monitoring activities around the well site. Allen did not provide further details about where the leak was spotted or how big it is.

Allen said Sunday that testing would determine whether keeping the well capped was the right solution. Pressure testing results in the well have been lower than expected, he said, which means oil could be leaking out from below.

"While we are pleased that no oil is currently being released into the Gulf of Mexico and want to take all appropriate action to keep it that way, it is important that all decisions are driven by the science," he said. "Ultimately, we must insure no irreversible damage is done which could cause uncontrolled leakage from numerous points on the sea floor."

Pressure inside the well "continues to rise slowly," BP said in a statement Monday.

BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said Sunday that the recently recapped oil well in could remain closed until the relief well is completed if tests remained favorable.

"No one associated with this whole activity wants to see any more oil flow into the Gulf of Mexico," he said.

Rep. Ed Markey, who has been a vocal critic of BP's response to the gusher, said Sunday that the company could have another motivation for wanting to keep the well capped.

"If the well remains fully shut in until the relief well is completed, we may never have a fully accurate determination of the flow rate from this well. If so, BP -- which has consistently underestimated the flow rate -- might evade billions of dollars of fines," Markey said in a letter to Allen released Sunday.

Using ships on the surface to collect 100 percent of the gushing oil would allow scientists to calculate the flow rate -- a figure that the government would use to determine how much to fine BP, Markey said.

No oil has gushed out since Thursday when BP closed all the valves in a new custom-made cap that was lowered into place earlier in the week.

The company also plans to conduct tests known as ranging runs on one of its relief wells, which company officials have said could intersect the ruptured well by the end of July. BP then plans to pump mud and cement down to kill the ruptured well.

Engineers and scientists have intensified monitoring of the well, poring over images and data collected by robots, sonar scans, and seismic and acoustic examinations. A government ship is in the area, fitted with equipment for detecting methane gas, which would be an indication of a leak.

In the coming weeks, BP also plans to bring in two more oil collection ships in addition to the two in the Gulf, bringing containment capacity to 80,000 barrels (about 3.4 million gallons) of oil a day, more than high-end estimates of how much oil had been leaking.

Meanwhile, a worker who was onboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig when it exploded is among those scheduled to testify before investigators Monday.

The hearing is part of a Coast Guard and Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management investigation of the April 20 explosion, which killed 11 workers and sent oil gushing into the Gulf.