US Coast Guards using remote-controlled submarines to cap leaking BP oil well
10 Jul 2010
US Cost Guards using remote-controlled submarines expect to cap the leaking BP oil well in the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend, reports said today.
The plan is to intercept the ruptured well and seal it up permanently with mud and cement and drill two relief wells below the seafloor.
The job of drilling two new wells, however, is expected to take over a month and is unlikely to be completed before mid-August.
The current cap on the leaking oil well, installed on 4 June to capture oil gushing from the bottom of sea, allows some crude to escape into the Gulf because it is fitted over a jagged cut in the well pipe.
BP in a sub sea operational update said it collected approximately 7,930 barrels of oil and around 28.5 million cubic feet of natural gas for the first 12 hours on 9 July (midnight to noon).
BP said as of 8 July, total oil recovered touched 24,395 barrels. Of this, around 16,305 barrels were collected, 8,090 barrels of oil were flared and approximately 55.5 million cubic feet of natural gas were flared.
BP said it has settled claims totalling $162.7 million so far and has signed 51,700 cheques since 3 May.