BP hopes removal complete by weekend

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BP expects to remove a failed blowout preventer atop its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well by Saturday or Sunday and later plug the leak for good, the top official overseeing the spill response said on Wednesday.

"We believe in the next 24 to 36 hours, we will enter a weather window that will allow us to proceed," retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said at a briefing in Houston.

Rough seas near the Macondo well site on Monday suspended work to remove the giant stack of pipes and valves and replace it with another, a needed step before BP resumes drilling a relief well to plug the leak.

The relief well remains on target to intersect the Macondo well sometime after the US Labor Day holiday on Monday. The relief well is about 15 metres from its target near the bottom of the Macondo well about 4,000 metres beneath the seabed.

Allen said six- to eight-foot waves forced BP to hold off, but three-foot waves are expected Thursday through Sunday.

The failed BOP is critical evidence in criminal and civil investigations into the April 20 blowout that led to an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. The blast killed 11 men.

A working BOP can handle increased pressure when the relief well bores into the Macondo well, Allen said.

The combined weight of the pipe that will lift it from the seabed, a latching mechanism and the BOP will be about 1 million pounds, Allen said.

Waves higher than three feet could overly stress the pipe and make the BOP swing like a pendulum, he said.

BP aims on Thursday to start by removing a cap atop the BOP equipment that has cut off all oil flow since July 15, Allen said.

BP initially plugged the well on Aug. 5 with cement pumped in from the top. Company and government scientists believe oil won't leak during the switch.

"We do believe the risks are small for a hydrocarbon release," Allen said. "That said, there will be containment vessels on standby just in case they're needed."

- Reuters