BP begins effort to permanently seal Gulf oil well

ON THE GULF OF MEXICO - Introducing two more pieces of oil-industry lingo - "static kill" and "bullheading" - to the American public, BP began forcing mud down the throat of its blown-out well yesterday in hopes of permanently sealing the biggest offshore leak in U.S. history.

The effort could continue through Thursday, and engineers won't know for more than a week if it choked the well once and for all.

"This is a really positive step forward," said retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point man on the crisis. While the move represents what he called good news in a time when there hasn't been much, he also cautioned, "It shouldn't be a cause for premature celebration."

A 75-ton cap placed on the well in July has been keeping the oil bottled up inside over the past three weeks, but that is considered only a temporary measure.

BP and the Coast Guard want to plug up the hole with a column of heavy drilling mud and cement to seal it off more securely.

The static kill - also known as bullheading - involves slowly pumping mud down lines running from a ship to the top of the ruptured well a mile below. BP said that may be enough by itself to seal the well.

But Allen made it clear that to be safe, the gusher will have to be plugged up from two directions. He said the 18,000-foot relief well that BP has been drilling over the past three months will be used later this month to execute a "bottom kill," in which mud and cement will be injected into the bedrock 2 1/2 miles below the sea floor.

Over the past few months, with each failed attempt to stop the leak, the American public has learned some of the oil industry's lingo, including "top kill," which is similar to the static kill, "top hat," and "junk shot," an attempt to clog up the well with golf balls and rubber scraps.

Before the cap was lowered onto the well, 172 million gallons of crude flowed into the sea, unleashed by the April 20 explosion aboard the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon that killed 11 workers.

BP won't know for certain whether the static kill has succeeded until engineers can use the soon-to-be-completed relief well to check their work.

Allen said the task is becoming more urgent because peak hurricane season is just around the corner.