Device captures leaking oil in Gulf

From Adelaide newspaper: Device captures leaking oil in Gulf

A CONTAINMENT device placed over a leaking oil well pipe in the Gulf of Mexico has captured 6000 barrels of crude, and the amount contained will "hopefully" increase soon, a US official said.

"In the first full 24-hour cycle, yesterday as they bring the production level up, they were able to bring up and produce 6000 barrels of oil from the well," said retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the US official overseeing the response to the oil spill.

"The goal is to continue that production, and raise it up, and hopefully take the pressure off the well and hopefully start to reduce the oil that is coming out the vents to make sure the oil had a place to go while they were increasing production," he said.

A cap placed over the leak on Thursday is intended to gather the oil, allowing it to be siphoned via a pipe to a container ship on the surface.


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It is a modified version of an effort tried earlier in BP's six-week effort to stem the crude gushing from a ruptured underwater pipe after the Deepwater Horizon rig it leased exploded before sinking into the sea on April 22.

The earlier attempt failed because cold temperatures and high pressure at the leak site caused the oil to form a sludge that could not be siphoned away.

The cap has been redesigned with valves that can be slowly shut down to help prevent the buildup of gas hydrates - similar to ice crystals - that doomed the first attempt.

"What they're slowly doing is increasing production to the well bore and up to the ship," Allen said.

"They want to raise that up to the maximum extent possible on a daily rate basis, and then slowly start turning off those vents where the oil is coming out of right now when they're sure they don't have sea water coming in."

Officials at the centre where the spill response is being coordinated said BP will now provide daily updates on how much oil is being captured by the containment device.