May 6, 2013 - The deepwater containment exercise continued today as the unified command worked to attach the capping stack and conduct procedures to pressurize it. BSEE Director James Watson was inside the command post today as the capping stack was being lowered more than 5,000 feet into the Gulf of Mexico this morning. Remote Operated Vehicles (ROV) have been deployed to help monitor and assist in the actual testing.

While in the command post today, BSEE Director Watson and BSEE Gulf of Mexico Regional Director Lars Herbst met with visitors from Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom. The international guests were given an overview of the exercise and met with subject matter experts who were working on each phase of the operation.

BSEE initiated the deepwater containment exercise with Noble Energy on April 30th. The deepwater containment exercise involves the mobilization and field deployment of the capping stack to the sea floor in more than 5,000 feet of water, latching it to a test wellhead and pressurizing the system. The capping stack is a critical piece of equipment that has the ability to shut off any flow of oil from a well if other shut-off systems, such as the
blowout preventer fail. Following the Deepwater Horizon tragedy, the Interior Department instituted reforms that required offshore operators to have the ability to deploy containment resources, such as a capping stack, in response to a blowout or other loss of well control.

The Unified Command meets in the command post as operations continue in the deepwater containment exercise.