Scientists: Oil fouling Gulf of Mexico matches Deepwater Horizon well

By Ben Raines, Press-Register
25 August 2011 MOBILE, Alabama – Scientific analysis has confirmed that oil bubbling up above BP’s sealed Deepwater Horizon well in recent days is a chemical match for the hundreds of millions of gallons of oil that spewed into the Gulf last summer. The Press-Register collected samples of the oil about a mile from the well site on Tuesday and provided them to Ed Overton and Scott Miles, chemists with Louisiana State University. The pair did much of the chemical work used by federal officials to fingerprint the BP oil, known as MC252. “After examining the data, I think it’s a dead ringer for the MC252 oil, as good a match as I’ve seen,” Overton wrote in an email to the newspaper. “My guess is that it is probably coming from the broken riser pipe or sunken platform. … However, it should be confirmed, just to make sure there is no leak from the plugged well.” In an emailed statement, BP officials wrote that the company had a vessel stationed at the site all day Thursday but never saw any oil. During BP’s inspection, the wind was blowing up to 10 mph, and waves were up to 2 feet high. Scientists said that even a light chop would likely have obscured the small sheens emerging every few seconds. By contrast, the wind was still and seas were flat and glassy Tuesday when the newspaper located the oil. “There is still no evidence that the oil came from the Macondo well,” BP officials wrote in the emailed statement. Late Thursday night, BP officials sent word that an ROV survey of the well found no leaks. […]

Scientists: Oil fouling Gulf matches Deepwater Horizon well