All available options for a safe resolution to the incident are under are consideration.
Personnel are aboard the Hercules 265 jack-up rig and installing gas detectors and high-capacity water jet fire monitors as a contingency.
At last report the Superior Derrick Services' Performance barge arrived on location and was setting anchors.
The barge will be used by response teams to assist with the well intervention.
The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has approved Walter Oil & Gas' permit application to drill a relief well to intercept the target well.
Once intercepted drilling mud followed by cement will be pumped into the well to secure it.
Walter has contracted the Rowan EXL-3 jack-up rig and it is on location at South Timbalier 220. Crews are preparing to drill.
A slight sheen continues to be detected on the water's surface but is dissipating quickly.
The US Coast Guard continues to maintain a 500m safety zone around the site.
Firefighting and other marine vessels remain onsite with personnel from Walter, Hercules and other professional engineering contractors and relevant federal agencies aboard.
Walter experienced a loss of control of well A-3 at about 8.45am Central Daylight Time on July 23 on an unmanned platform at South Timbalier block 220.
At the time it was doing completion work on the sidetrack well with the Hercules 265 to prepare the well for production.
All 44 personnel from the jack-up rig were evacuated safely.
Leaking natural gas from the well ignited at 10.45pm that night.
On July 25 a natural bridging process cut the well flow and suppressed the fire.
BSEE director James Watson came to Houston to oversee the response efforts.
"All of the workers aboard the platform were safely evacuated before the fire but complex operations to completely secure the well will be ongoing over the coming weeks and those must be conducted safely and cautiously," he said.
"Tuesday's [July 23's] event and other recent incidents serve as a reminder that industry must rededicate its efforts to make safety its top priority, including in shallow water."
