Shell Tests Underwater Well Blowout Containment System

Monday, Shell conducted a test of its underwater well blowout containment technology. The Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has not said yet whether it is satisfied enough with the test to give the company the final nod for its exploratory drilling efforts this summer in the Chukchi Sea.

The test involved showing they could lower what they call a “capping stack” over a well site, similar to the way BP finally found to cap the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico with a giant bell.