Jason Ford

BP containment cap could capture "majority" of oil

News

BP claims it is capturing over 10,000 barrels of oil a day through its latest attempt to cap the leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company’s chief executive Tony Hayward said he expected the process would catch the ‘vast majority’ of oil once it was up to full speed - but the US government estimates between 12,000 and 25,000 barrels a day could be leaking from the well.

A lower marine riser package (LMRP) containment cap was installed over the well on 3 June, and 10,500 barrels of oil and 22 million standard cubic feet of natural gas were captured on 5 June. Oil and gas are still escaping through vents in the cap designed to release pressure.

BP’s chief executive, Tony Hayward, told the BBC yesterday that he expected the proportion captured ‘to be the majority, probably the vast majority of the oil’.

But a statement from the company this morning said: ‘The LMRP containment cap never before has been deployed at these depths and conditions, and its efficiency and ability to contain the oil and gas cannot be assured.’

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