UpdateBP may siphon 53,000 bbl/day from Gulf oil spill by end June

14 June 2010 18:51  [Source: ICIS news]

(adds updates throughout)

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--BP will have the capacity to siphon up to 53,000 bbl/day of oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill by the end of June – two weeks earlier than originally planned, the US Coast Guard said on Monday.

The revised rate came in the wake of US officials directing BP to speed up its containment plan, following new estimates that the leak could be 40,000 bbl/day.

Those estimates were derived from May video data, and US officials speculated that the current flow rate could be even more following the 3 June cutting of the well’s riser pipe.

“After being directed to move more quickly, BP is now stepping up its efforts to contain the leaking oil,” Federal On-Scene Coordinator Rear Admiral James Watson said.

“Their revised plan also includes methods to achieve even greater redundancy beyond the month of June, to better allow for bad weather or unforeseen circumstances.”

BP said earlier on Monday that its new plan involved the installation of a separate riser, which would take oil and gas from the failed blowout preventer (BOP) on the seabed to a vessel on the surface.

By mid-July, siphoning capacity could reach 80,000 bbl/day with the installation of another riser and be hurricane-resistant, BP said in a letter to the Coast Guard.

On Sunday, BP siphoned 15,200 bbl of oil and 33.4m cubic feet of natural gas – roughly level with the previous several days and just short of the 18,000 bbl/day capacity.

However, capacity is scheduled to jump to 28,000 bbl/day by the end of this week, when BP is expected to begin siphoning up to 10,000 bbl/day to a drilling rig at the surface via tubes from its failed “top kill” operations.

“We have continuously demanded strategies and responses from BP that fit the realities of this catastrophic event, for which BP is responsible,” Watson said.

“We will continue to hold them accountable and bring every possible resource and innovation to bear,” he added.

Oil began spewing from the bottom of the Gulf after a 20 April explosion sank the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon offshore rig. BP said on Monday that clean-up costs had reached about $1.6bn (€1.3bn).

($1 = €0.83)

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By: Ben DuBose
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