stopping the gushing of oil. we are standing by for an update from the incident commander, admiral thad allen. we will bring that to you later. right now, we have brian todd at bp headquarters in houston. good to see you. the cap is on. what's next? >> tony, it's a very, very anxious day. they have to do the testing of the integrity of the well. that begins today in the next couple of hours. right now -- >> brian, pardon me for a second. admiral thad allen is speaking right now. >> this morning, several significant activities are taking place. we just finished our seismic run through the field, about 2.5 kilometer run basically from north to south with a boat called the gecko topaz, carrying sophisticated akuft cal signals. this will tell us what's happening with the sea floor or the formation moving ahead. the sequence of events that will take place and start some time after noon today -- wr still, i might add, have the vessel come through with the sensitive sensors requires you to clear everybody out of the area so they have a clear way to hear and there are also navigation issues. that's the reason was done in daylight. we were going to try yesterday but we ran out of daylight. once everything is redeployed and back in the area, especially rov support, these things will happen in the following sequence. when we get ready to start the well integrity test, we will cease production through the g 4,000 and the helix producer 1. we will then divert all of the hydrocarbons up into the new capping stack. valves to the kill and the choke lines for the new capping stack will be opened, and the center bore is already opened. we will be venting basically through three different exits, on the capping stack, kill line and choke line and the main line going through the bore. and then in sequence, we will attempt to close the stack down and assess the pressure readings as we do that. the first thing we did will do is the close the main ram. the middle one were be closed to shut down outward through the capping stack. we will take pressure readings. we will then close the kill line. which is the second remaining outlet, and take pressure readings. the third and most critical will be the choke line. there's a special device that's been built on the capping stack. you will see it, if you look at the video, it is yellow, long horizontally and there is an exit for the hydrocarbons. that will controlled by a remotely operated vehicle which will slowly close it incrementally. this is very, very important because we want to measure the amount of closure radially by turns of that choke line valve by an rov simultaneously taking pressure reading. the goal is to slowly dlees down and understand the changes in pressure as we are closing it until that choke line is closed. at that point, there will be no hydrocarbons exiting from the capping stack and we'll go into a period where we will start taking pressure readings. it will go in basically 6, 24 and 48 hour increments depending on the results, and as we said before, it may be counterintuitive to some, in this exercise, high pressure is good. we have a considerably amount of pressure down on the reservoir. we are looking between 8,000 and 9,000 psi, which would indicate that the hydrocarbons are being forced up and the well can withstand that pressure. that is good news. if we are down around in the 4,000 to 6,000 range that could tell us that the hydrocarbons are being diverted some place else and we have to assess the implications of that. there are degradations a you go from 4,000 psi up to 8,000 or 9,000 has a great deal to do with pressure readings, what the empirical reeldings tell us and in discussions with the scientific team representing the government and labs around the country. we will at some point try to get to 8,000 or 9,000 and sustain that for some period of time and these will be done basically as i said -- if you have a very low pressure reading, we will nid at least six hours of the readings to make sure that is the reading. if it's a little higher, we want to go to 24 hours, and if it's at 8,000 or 9,000, we will go 48 hours to make sure it can sustain the pressure. based on the pressure readings we find, this could be 6, 24 or 48 hours, and at that point we will have a better idea not only of the pressure. it will tell us something about the condition of the wellbore itself and ultimately will tell us about the flow rate, which to date was based on estimates, digital imagery. somewhere after noon we will start. the technical team is being assembled. after the press conference, i will meet with the department of energy, and marshall mcnut, and tom hunter, and other representatives of technical community, and we will be discussion how we will resolve issues as they come up and as we get pressure readings. the range of options that could come out of the testing of the stacking cap include knowledge that the cap itself can withstand 8,000 to 9,000 psi pressure indefinitely, which means there might be an opportunity to have what we would call a shut-in of the well, basically to just hold it at that point. anything less than that might bring into play a decision to continue to produce, and at that point, we will be able to produce off of four lines. the choke and the kill line from the original blowout preventer, plus the choke and kill lines from the new stacking cap. that is intended by around the 18th of july to take us to a kpafts of 60,000 to 80,000 barts a day which should exceed the flow. so with a shut-in of the well or produce most are not all of the flow we believe is generated, either way, we will have a way to contain the oil. if we are successful in the pressure readings, and, again, if e wr successful. this is very, very important because it will allow us to manage the hydrocarbons, but the ultimate success of this entire endeavor will be the relief well, and development driller 3 is now at 17,840 feet, and they have been there for a day or two. they are doing testing to make sure they have the right angle of attack as they close in for the last skilkt or 70 feet before they make the penetration for the relief well, and the current estimate of how far away there are from the well at this point is four feet four inches. you can imagine this gets precise as they try to go down another 60 feet. they are trying to drill into a seven-inch casing pipe. so that continues as well. one other thing, if we are to go to a full production of four different outlets around the 17th, 18th, 19th of july, somewhere around there, it requires us to continue to build and construct the second free-standing riser pipe. that is in progress right now and should be ready for production around the 19th of july. just a couple of other issues. skimmers have always been an issue for us. we know as we've expanded our defense of the coastline from florida to south central louisiana, we are on pace at this point by the end of the month of july to have approximately 1,000 skimmers on inventory. we are below 600, and are continuing to ramp up. resources have been freed up as a result of the emergency rule making. we have stand by requirements elsewhere in the country and we continue to aggressively acquire skimmers. critical resources we are coming to grips with, may not be intuitive to you but interesting to note, i think, we are using about 2 million tyvex suits a day, the light suits we use to cleanup the beaches. we may run into a supply problem. they are also used for a variety of other emergency response purposes. as we increase our aerial surveillance, we are looking to put owl more qualified folks from other places that can help us actually characterize the oil that we see and issues regarding wildlife and so forth. so this continues to be a very complex nuanced and broad-based response with a lot of things going on. in addition to everything else, we brought the helix producer on line last night and will take it down for the well integrity test. that ultimately will have the capability of 20,000 barrels a day. it was operating up before midnight last night. in addition to the q-4000, which could flare off about 7,291 barelies, we produced 8,381 barrels yesterday. a lot of densely compacted ships and rovs out there. we will continue to watch with great anticipation and we realize there are chances to increase our chances of containing the hydrocarbons moving forward. i will be glad to take your questions. >> maybe you can take us through some of the backup planning. if the well were to rupture while you have the shut-in, what happens then? i mean, is there some sort of emergency response plan in place or vessels on hand? what happens at that point? >> if we have very low pressure readings -- as i said, we will do this in increments. if we have sustained low pressure readings, we know we can't sustain that in the long run and while there may be hydrocarbons working into the formation, there's an acceptable range while we establish whether or not that's the true pressure, but the scientific team has gotten together and low pressure readings of about six hour assessment the threshold where we make a decision how to move forward. >> admiral harry weber from the associated press. can you bottom line it, if possible, what odds you give to the success of being able to shut in the well using this cap, and if you are successful, when do you think fishing areas along the gulf that have been closed will be able to reopen? what do you say to those people's lives that have been affected by this as far as what's next, when can life go on for the people that have been affected? can you give us some idea? >> well, i can tell you this. i think we are very confident we can take control of this hydrocarbon stream and slowly close all of these valves and stop the emission of hydrocarbons. what we can't tell is the current condition of the wellbore below the sea floor. that's why we are doing a well integrity test. we need to know that for the purpose of being able to control of hydrocarbons but we also need to know this because the ability to sustain those high pressures will actually facilitate the killing of the well when we try to pump mud into it from below. i can't attach a fours because we have to learn something we don't know. regarding the fishing areas, this is closely being monitored by noaa. we have about 34 or 35% of the gulf right now closed. they are aggressively reviewing on a day-to-day basis where the spill trajectories is at. when they can open them, they do it when it is safe and sound to do that. safety of the seafood food chain is very, very important. noaa is working with the fda to make sure that the fish caught in the areas that are open are safe for consumption and they are. this is a focused effort by both fda and noaa. warding what comes next, i've said on several occasions, even if we contain the well and if the well is capped in mid-august, there is still a significant amount of oil out there and the oil recovery and impacts will probably extend well into the fall in terms of oil coming into shore, tar balls and beach cleanup and then moving to the natural resources damage assessment, trying to understand the long-term ecological impact of the event. >> there have been some confirmed amounts of tar balls from the bp oil spill washing ashore in texas, and in galveston, i'm wondering if you know of any recent test results on the tar that washed up there in galveston island. also, will the skimmers that you're trying to expand the use of be coming into the waters around the text coastline? >> my independenting is we have had tar balls in a couple places in the boulevard coastline. some have the characteristics of this spill and some have not. those that have exhibits characteristics of oil that would have been far weathered than it was having gone that far. we're looking at the fact of whether or not vessels working in the area transmitted oil out there and had it come ashore. that said, we set up an incident command in galveston and have an information center there. we are in touch with the general land office and in touch with governor perry's office and will continue with that moving forward. right now, there is no presence of oil on the surface over there that would require skimming capability right now. the tar balls are sometimes suspended and come ashore. we are looking to put skimmers where we need them. that's why we haven't stopped orderinger them. i would rather push supply than waiting for a demand we can't answer. >> hi. thank you. if the pressure is low at the top of the well zrk that indicate that oil is flowing out through some other point of the well and if so, what are the theories on where it's escaping? >> that's what we're going to try to determine from the pressure. one could make a case that there are issues with the casing and wellbore itself. i don't think we'll know that until we take the pressure readings and see where that information takes us. it is unknown what happened to that wellbore. at the time of the explosion and the events immediately following that. that is largely the biggest unknown. the top kill which we tried which was not successful or the bomb kill moving forward. there are some indications when we drill into the pipe to do the bottom kill, the ultimate capping of the well that we will get an indication if there is oil in the opening between the well casing and the pipe itself. based on that information, we can make a determination on these burst plates, which are placed periodically up and down the casing are still intact or if they burst and that gives us an idea of the pressure exerted. it will be a combination of the pressure in the well integrity tests and what we encounter when we drill into the well from below. >> christen hayes with reuters. you said that six-hour threshold. when you reach that six hours, if pressure is still low is that when you decide to ramp up the helix and the q-4000 and start collecting againy you said that the floating ricer is under construction and will be ready july 19th. >> we think we will be ready for proukd on the 19th. >> you think the 80,000 barrel a day four vessel system will be ready before the end of july? >> yes. >> but the other question about the sick-hour threshold. >> that is a rule of thumb. i think we're going to have to take look at what the pressure readings are. there is a general window that if you have sustainable pressure for six hours, you reach a decision threshold where you open up and vent the hydrocarbons and bring the helix producer in and the q-4000 on line. there is an decision that needs to be made to release pressure it would be made by venting hydrocarbons. >> when does the six hour time frame start ticking down? >> let me be very clear to everybody. that's a rule. thumb we established to assess the pressures. nobody will have a stop watch. >> dark the six hour window could start, right if you start the integrity test today? >> we will take the pressure readings when we close the choke valve, and that will be done slowly to see if there are pressure changes as we start to restrict the flow and we don't do anything prematurely. it will also tell us something about the flow, empirical data we haven't had to date. let's not get wrapped up in the six hours. that's a horizon we look at for the pressure readings. >> could you close down that vent today? >> no. the capping stack -- all three ways for the hydrocarbons to exit will be closed, but the last one will be the choke line because it's got a variable valve that we can close in increments. it is not just an open and shut issue. the other ones are either open or shut. that will allow us to slowly close and look at the pressure while we're doing it. >> when? >> this afternoon. >> i know you mentioned the 48 hour time frame. i know you talk about six hours and now the 48 hours. what will happen after those 48 hours? >> well, again, these are approximate times that our technical teams said if we have consistent pressure readings over that period of time, it's logical to talk about next steps. if we can sustain pressure over 48 hours, we move into a reasonable range that we have contained the flow at that point and you can have a discussion about whether it is possible to shut in the well or not. i don't want to presuppose any of those decisions because we don't know the conditions will we will encounter. those are the thresholds we are looking at when you have enough pressure readings to have a serious discussion about next steps. >> we would like to move to the phone con vens call to take questions. >> if you would like to ask a question, please press star on your key pad. your first question is on the line. >> thank you for taking my call. [ inaudible ] >> okay. here's the sequence once again. there are basically three ways that hydrocarbons can come up through a blowout preventer preventer, the one that's there or the capping stack we put on. the kill and the choke lines and then the main bore up through the preventer itself. we now have a capping stack on top of that. so there are five ways that you can potentially release oil. the kill and choke line from the original blowout preventer, the kill and choke lines from the capping stack and then the top of the capping stack itself. what we will do in sequence is we will stop production on the q-4000 and the helix producer 1, and we will remove the way for the hydrocarbons to exit through the kill and choke lines on the original blowout preventer. then we move to three exit points, the choke and kill lines of the capping stack and then the top opening of the capping stack. then we will in sequence, first -- there are three rams that are part of the capping stack. the middle ram will be closed. that will seal the upper opening from any hydrocarbon release and leaves us the kill and choke lines. the kill line will be closed as well. this is either open or shut. that leaves the choke line of the capping stack as the last way for hydrocarbons to exit from the capping stack. that is set up with a specially designed engineered and built -- it's a horizontal yellow piece of equipment with a piece of pipe and at the other end there's a place to insert a tool with a remotely operated vehicle and then slowly close the valve which we will do that while taking pressure readings. next question. >> your next question. >> admiral, everything is going ahead with the effort to have all ships available, right? >> that. our intention is, have, again, we have been very clear since the middle part of june with bp regardless of the stacking cap, the ability to shut the well in or the relief well efforts, we want backup and redundancies for all systems because we've seven several occasions starting out where we were going to do something and it failed and we got into a linear sequence. we wanted more insurance than that. we want redundancy and production capabilities in case there is a problem, and we saw with the enterprise there was a lightning strike and alarms that went off and maintenance. we want redundancy in the production capability and also in the capacity so that while we're doing this, we can still deal with the entire flow. for that reason, it was anticipated whether or not the capping stack works and we shut the well in that we would ultimately go to four sources of production under the new system, the kill and choke lines from the original blowout preventer and the kill and choke lines from the new capping stack. two would go to vertical riser pipes anchored on the sea floor, and the other two would go to drill strings that are put below production vessels and kengted by a small coupe pling that can be disconnected quickly in times of a hurricane. the combination of those four platforms will give us 60,000 to 80,000 barrels a day and capacity redundancy of a ma