After 106 Days, 'Static Kill' Appears to Have Stopped the Gulf Oil Leak
The Gulf Oil Spill At long last, the worst seems to be over even as the cleanup continues. We don't want to jinx it or anything, so hold your breath and cross your fingers while you read this: BP's "static kill" procedure appears to have completely and finally stopped the flow of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. After eight hours of pumping heavy drilling mud into the well pipe overnight, the well pressure is now being dictated by the hydrostatic pressure of the drilling mud -- not by containment caps or other means -- which means a concrete capper should seal the deal. Before we talk about what this means, a quick spin through the numbers is in order. It's now day 106 since the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion occurred, claiming the lives of 11 rig workers and kicking off what is most currently being estimated as a...