BP presents oil containment plan
Energy giant BP has presented a new plan to contain more than 50,000 barrels a day of oil gushing from a ruptured Gulf of Mexico well by the end of June, an administration official said yesterday.
"After being directed by the administration to move more quickly, BP is now stepping up its efforts to contain the leaking oil," the official said on condition of anonymity.
"They have now outlined a path to contain more than 50,000 barrels of oil per day by the end of June, two weeks earlier than they originally suggested," the official said.
The oil company is currently siphoning up about 15,000 barrels of oil a day to a ship on the surface, about half of the 25,000 to 30,000 barrels believed to be streaming into the Gulf.
In a letter, BP outlined plans to bring a vessel for producing and storing oil from South America, two additional lightering tankers from Europe and a 3,800-foot, six-inch flexible pipe from Brazil to reinforce the existing efforts to suck up crude from the leaking well.
The outlines of the plan were produced as President Barack Obama was to depart on his fourth visit to the Gulf since an April 20 explosion destroyed a BP-leased deepwater rig, unleashing the worst oil spill in US history.
Obama is to address the nation in a speech from the Oval Office on his return from the Gulf on Tuesday, the official said.
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