BP Launches 'Static Kill'

After running “injectivity tests” Tuesday morning—to decide if the broken Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico could withstand increased pressure from a planned “static kill” procedure—BP announced its operation is going ahead as planned, with underwater robots pumping mud and cement into the well pipe. “The aim of these procedures is to assist with the strategy to kill and isolate the well, and will complement the upcoming relief-well operation,” BP said in a statement. The hope is to push the oil back down the reservoir, pump concrete into the well, and—finally—seal it once and for all.