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BP Makes Plan To Capture 50,000 Bbl/Day Of Leak

Oil continues to flow into the Gulf of Mexico from BP PLC's (BP) Macondo well, affecting hundreds of miles of coastal beaches and marshes in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The spill was triggered by an explosion on April 20 that destroyed the Transocean Ltd. (RIG) drilling platform Deepwater Horizon, killing 11 crew members.
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Δευ, 14 Ιουνίου 2010 - 18:35
Oil continues to flow into the Gulf of Mexico from BP PLC's (BP) Macondo well, affecting hundreds of miles of coastal beaches and marshes in Louisiana , Mississippi , Alabama and Florida . The spill was triggered by an explosion on April 20 that destroyed the Transocean Ltd. (RIG) drilling platform Deepwater Horizon, killing 11 crew members. BP has been scrambling to cap the well and contain the spill since.

CONTAINMENT: BP outlined new plans to the U.S. Coast Guard Sunday that will allow it to capture 40,000 to 50,000 barrels of oil a day in the Gulf of Mexico --the entire leak by current official estimates--by the end of June. The company said it will achieve this by deploying up to three additional vessels and connecting them to valves on the blowout preventer, which sits atop the well head.

However, it acknowledged numerous challenges to its plan and offered no guarantee of success. In the even of a hurricane, containment operations would have to be completely suspended.

COST AND CONSEQUENCES: BP remains under intense political pressure, especially over whether it will pay its full second-quarter dividend to shareholders.

BP's board will meet Monday, although a spokeswoman said it is not expected to announce a decision on the dividend. BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama Wednesday to discuss the issue. White House officials on Sunday said they wanted BP to put "substantial" funds into an escrow account to cover claims by Gulf Coast businesses and residents affected by the spill.

Containment, cleanup and compensation related to the spill has cost $1.6 billion so far, BP said Monday.

In a sign that BP's woes in the Gulf of Mexico may also affect their international operations, the head of Libya's National Oil Co., Shokri Ghanem, said Monday that he wants further assurances of the safety of deep water drilling the company is planning for his country.

CLEANUP: Almost 475,000 barrels of oily liquid has been skimmed from the water's surface in the Gulf of Mexico , BP said Monday. The total length of containment boom deployed as part of efforts to prevent oil from reaching the coast is now around 470 miles and almost 600 miles of sorbent boom also has been deployed.

WHAT'S NEXT: A second vessel, the Q4000, is expected to arrive at the site of the leak Monday, connect to the blowout preventer and begin capturing and burning off up to 10,000 barrels a day of oil starting Tuesday.

BP America chief Lamar McKay will join four executives from other oil companies at a hearing on Tuesday before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee. BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward will appear Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations, in his first testimony since the April 20 explosion of the Gulf drilling rig.

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