Good Nola.com article on the well containment systems
Comments on well capping and containment:
- Capping and containment systems, while important and necessary, are for blowout response, not blowout prevention. Their use, successful or otherwise, would only occur after a series of unacceptable failures.
- Having two capping and containment consortia in the Gulf of Mexico (and none anywhere else in the world) does not seem to be very cost effective or efficient.
- What are the plans for subsea capping and containment systems elsewhere?
- A capping/containment capability would not have saved a single life on the Deepwater Horizon. Verified barriers must be in place to prevent flow from the well bore.
- The well responsible for our other major drilling blowout spill (Santa Barbara – 1969), was capped at the surface by closing the blind ram on the BOP shortly after flow began. However, capping doesn’t work if you don’t have a competent well bore. The well flowed through numerous channels back to the seafloor.
- Capping subsea wells is safer than capping surface wells.
- Capping the Montara blowout (2009) in only 80m of water was neither safe nor technically feasible because of the way the well was suspended. Despite the complete absence of a capping option at Montara, the capping of surface wells has received little attention.
- The more critical, but less publicized, post-Macondo initiatives pertain to well design, construction, and verification. In that regard, important new standards, including the Well Construction Interface Document, are scheduled to be completed soon. That work must not be delayed.
- While capping stacks and containment systems will only be used in the event of a series of major failures, design and construction procedures are critical every time a well is drilled. The importance of the initial design decisions continues into the production phase and beyond, even after the well has been plugged and abandoned.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 
Everything presented is tech. correct and feasible or can be adapted to a certain extent. Nothing to date has been offered to cover the vent of leaking bOP below rams or deficiencies ow well head/sea bed integrity. MMWC is working on this for 1st quarter 2012.
Obviously if the rig on the blown out well had a clean disconnect and retrieved the riser and Lower Marine riser package(LMRP) it changes the timing and equipment required to cap it.
I still think that a great deal of prevention lies in the BOP systems, controls, interfaces with ship management and DP or mooring system. Operators/contractors should adhere 100 % to existing procedures which requires fixing a deficient BOP asap. even if this dictate a fast and safe suspension of the well for a period of time ( days x $), would be cheaper than any blow out long term.
Further needs to have complete overhaul and BOP servicing with support from the various manufactures not just subsea rig crews.
ROV emergency interfaces need simplifications, common specs and interfaces, the BOP plumbing and logic for isolation of accumulator supply need some rethink.
And as final point modifications should not be made to any of these BOP systems unless validated thru the manufacturers and a complete engineering evaluation of the changes is properly assessed by all end users and suppliers.
Good comments JL.