VOA标准英语2010年-Test on Gulf Oil Well Underway After T

A workboat pulls boom into place alongside the Pacific Responder oil skimming vessel¹ in the Gulf² of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, 14 Jul 2010

BP has restarted a pressure test on a leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico to prepare for an effort to cap the leak.  Crews were forced to abort³ an earlier attempt because of a technical problem.

BP officials say they discovered the problem shortly after beginning a test late Wednesday that involves choking off the flow of oil from the underwater well. 

During the operation, engineers closed a series of valves that are releasing oil and natural gas to measure the pressure inside the well pipe.

BP Senior Vice⁴ President Kent Wells says crews noticed a leak in one of the lines that funnels⁵ oil from the well head to surface ships.  He said they needed to replace the so-called "choke line" to get an accurate pressure reading.

"We had a second choke on surface," Wells said. "We disconnected that choke and hub system, took it up, brought the other one down, landed it this morning.  And we are once again positioning ourselves to do the well integrity test."

The process of closing all of the valves at the well head can take several hours.  Officials say they might conduct the test over a 48-hour period to get as much pressure data as possible.

U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen is overseeing the response to the oil well leak.  He says teams are monitoring the procedure to determine whether it is safe to continue with the test.

"The only reason we would terminate the test quickly is if we had a very low pressure reading," Allen said. "That would be indicative of the fact that oil was being released somewhere in the well bore out into the formation.  We would not want that.  But as pressure continues to rise, we will continue to monitor it."

The pressure test is one of a series of tests BP engineers have used to study the condition of the well pipe that runs nearly four kilometers under the floor of the Gulf of Mexico.

BP's Kent Wells says that testing with seismic⁶ monitoring equipment suggests the well pipe is intact.

"We did not see any leakage⁷ of oil and gas that we could pick up in any of our seismic information that would indicate there is any oil leaving from the well," Wells said.

The test results will help engineers prepare for the kill operation, which involves filling the well pipe with heavy mud to stop the flow of oil and natural gas.  BP officials say they might conduct that operation as early as mid-August, when a relief well is expected to be finished.

 

1 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 abort   

v.使流产，堕胎；中止；中止(工作、计划等)

参考例句：

• The captain instructed them to abort the mission.上尉指示他们中止执行任务。
• With this button the user can abort the audio sequence.用户可以用该按钮终止音频序列。

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 funnels   

漏斗( funnel的名词复数 )； （轮船，火车等的）烟囱

参考例句：

• Conventional equipment such as mixing funnels, pumps, solids eductors and the like can be employed. 常用的设备，例如混合漏斗、泵、固体引射器等，都可使用。
• A jet of smoke sprang out of the funnels. 喷射的烟雾从烟囱里冒了出来。

6 seismic   

a.地震的，地震强度的

参考例句：

• Earthquakes produce two types of seismic waves.地震产生两种地震波。
• The latest seismic activity was also felt in northern Kenya.肯尼亚北部也感觉到了最近的地震活动。

7 leakage   

n.漏，泄漏；泄漏物；漏出量

参考例句：

• Large areas of land have been contaminated by the leakage from the nuclear reactor.大片地区都被核反应堆的泄漏物污染了。
• The continuing leakage is the result of the long crack in the pipe.这根管子上的那一条裂缝致使渗漏不断。