BP (NYSE:BP) Completes Pumping Cement Into Oil Well

BP (NYSE:BP) has completed the final step in the "static kill" at the top of the oil well, finishing pumping cement into the top of the well, according to Thad Allen, who is overseeing the operations for the government.

Allen said, "I think we can all breathe a little easier regarding the potential that we'll have oil in the Gulf ever again. But we need to assure the people of the Gulf and the people of the United States that this thing is properly finished."

The cement should take about 24 hours to dry, added Allen.

Next comes the long-awaited bottom kill from the relief well, which will pour into cement at the bottom to completely and permanently seal the well.

Final drilling will take about a week to reach its destination, which is just above the large reservoir of oil. Once it reaches there, it could take weeks before the well is totally sealed with more cement.

A second relief well is being drilled in case the first one fails.

Incoming BP (NYSE:BP) CEO Bob Dudley Says Company Will "Make this Right"

In an interview Wednesday, incoming BP (NYSE:BP) CEO Bob Dudley said he has been getting the impression from people that once the oil well is successfully capped, the company will pick up and leave the region.

He said that's far from the truth, and he and BP will "make this right in America."

"The only way you can build a reputation is not just by words, but by action," Dudley said. "I picked up that people think that, well, once we cap this well, we're somehow going to pack up and disappear. That is certainly not the case. We've got a lot of cleanup to do. We've got claims facilities. We've got 35 of those around the Gulf coast."

Dudley, who will take over as CEO from Tony Hayward on October 1, said the top priority of BP is to focus on and take care of the crisis surrounding the consequences of the Macondo oil well.

BP (NYSE:BP) Relief Well Drilling Stopped on Approaching Storm

With the potential for a tropical cyclone to hit the Gulf of Mexico, BP (NYSE:BP) workers have stopped drilling the relief well, which has the best potential to permanently stop the oil leak.

According to the National Hurricane Center, there is a 20-30 percent possibility of tropical storm winds of 39 mph or more to hit the area of the spill site.

A device called a packer has already been put in place in the relief well, which is used to stabilize it during storms.

Ships involved at the spill site don't move quickly, and so plans to evacuate are already being put into motion.

Although only four feet from the oil well, the relief well drilling could be stopped for up to two weeks.

The lead in the situation for the government, Thad Allen, has it on him to decide whether or not to open the well and allow oil to pour into the ocean or leave it shut.

Government Gives OK on BP (NYSE:BP) Cap Test

A day after the U.S. government told BP (NYSE:BP) to hold back on testing the new containment cap until questions were answered, they've now given the go ahead for BP to proceed with the tests.

It does make you wonder what the government was doing over the last week or so, as they should have been asking questions before the process began, not wait until BP was in the middle of the process. How hard would it have been to do that?

Concerns were over the testing of the oil well, and whether that could make things worse or not if it failed.

Evidently BP has successfully answered those concerns, and National Incident Commander Thad Allen said they've been given permission to go forward.

BP said it'll take about 48 hours to complete the test to see if it is working properly or not.

BP (NYSE:BP): Oil Will Become Trickle

In the boldest statement from BP (NYSE:BP) yet on their attempt to stop oil from flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said the flow of oil should be reduced "to a relative trickle" by as early as Monday or Tuesday.

Suttles reiterated that a second vessel is on its way to help with the processing of the oil, which the current tanker is oil to do at a 15,000 barrel-a-day pace. The new one should process oil at between 5,000 to 10,000 barrels a day.

Next month a new containment cap currently being built is expected to even better seal the oil well, reducing the oil leakage even more.

With oil reaching the shores probably coming from the day of the accident, Suttles said we'll probably see oil following up by about that same number of days once the leak is mostly contained.

BP (NYSE:BP) Successfully Cuts Through Riser Pipe

The first step in the second attempt by BP (NYSE:BP) to cap the leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico has succeeded, according to U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who said it was a "significant step."

If this hadn't been successful, BP would have had to stop their operation as it wouldn't have been possible to go on to the next step of capping the well.

BP will attempt to complete the capping of the well sometime in the next several hours, which would allow them to start pumping oil to tanker ships waiting for it.

If that is successful, then BP would follow up by using dispersants on any oil they don't capture using the cap.

Exxon Mobil's (NYSE:XOM) Record Oil Well

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) announced it has drilled the longest extended-reach oil well in the world on a fixed offshore platform from a drilling rig.

The rig, located off the coast of California, is over 7,000 feet below sea level, and then extends another 6 miles horizontally.

Located in the Santa Ynex Unit close to Santa Barbara, the area has produced over 450 million barrels of oil since 1981, claims Exxon, and the record drilling will result in an additional 5.8 million barrels of oil.

Exxon has adopted the technology from its need to adapt to conditions in the Sakhlin Island area of Russia, where they had to learn to tap wells deep under the ocean and miles away from the area.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) Drilling 25 New Wells

Marathon Oil Drilling 25 New Oil Wells

Oil wells in the Oregon Basin have been producing oil for close to 100 years, and even though Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) hasn't been drilling there for a couple of years, they're poised to start again with a goal of drilling another 25 new wells in the region.

Along with the search for new oil, Marathon will also be employing new techniques to extract known oil resources for existing wells, possibly through the use of carbon dioxide or steam to push the oil to the surface; although that is more costly and will depend on market prices at the time whether it's feasible or not.

Crude in the Oregon Basin is called asphaltic crude, and is used in highway construction. Increased demand and prices make it worth the effort to start drilling for it again.

In general, this type of crude is close to 30 percent in value than light sweet crude, but that has narrowed recently, again, making it economically feasible to puruse by Marathon Oil and other energy companies.

Marathon Oil Drilling 25 New Oil Wells