ABSTRACT

Following unsuccessful attempts during May and June, 2010, to contain the Deepwater Horizon oil spill by methods such as the containment dome and top kill, and with the relief well not expected to be completed until September, plans were drawn up to install a capping stack on top of the Macondo well to shut the flow of oil. Such a shut-in, however, was not without risks, stemming from concerns that the well casing might have been damaged during the initial explosion. The rising shut-in pressure could force oil to leak out of the damaged casing into the surrounding formation, initiating a hydraulic fracture that could breach the seafloor. This would result in a renewed and uncontrolled flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico--a catastrophic development. This talk will present some of the scientific analyses that led to ending the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. An extraordinary degree of effort and collaboration among scientists and engineers from private industry, academia, and government agencies was required to end the environmental disaster.