WASHINGTON – The energy giant BP Plc (BP.L) (BP.N) aims to double the amount of oil that catches her torn Gulf of Mexico well, while the U.S. Gulf Coast will be struggling with the environmental mess of huge leakage years, the coastguard said on Monday. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who leads the government relief operation, said London-based BP had hoped to 20,000 barrels (840,000 gallons/3.18 one million liters) per day in its latest attempt to collect the worst spill in U.S. history, which is now affected contain 120 miles (193 km) of coastline.
* Coast Guard says BP’s final effort going ‘reasonably well’
* Goldman Sachs downgrades its rating for BP
* White House says BP faces billions in penalties
* BP says 27,700 barrels of oil collected 3 to 6 June
The figure emphasizes some scientists’ concerns that the government estimate of up to 27.5 19,000 barrels per day from the well one mile (1.6 kilometers) beneath the sea may be too low. BP’s current estimated at only 5,000 barrels per day.
Neither Allen nor BP gave an estimate of how much oil is still flowing into the Gulf.
The 49-day-old leak caused an ecological and economic disaster along the U.S. Gulf Coast and testing of Barack Obama’s presidency.
BP’s latest attempt to contain the gushing oil, is the first positive signs after a series of failed attempts fueled public anger in the company.
The previous efforts generated initial optimism that an end to the crisis in sight, but that hope was dashed when the crude held spits out. Allen said BP’s latest effort – the placing of a limitation of the cap on the pouring pipe on the ocean floor – seemed to go “quite well.”
Allen said cleaning up the spill will be at least four to six weeks after the item is finally completed – expected in August. But dealing with the long-term environmental impact will take years, he said.
“We are no longer dealing with a large, monolithic spilled. We are dealing with an aggregation of hundreds of thousands of patches of oil are a lot of different directions,” Allen said, stressing the broad distribution of the oil.
“Dealing with the oil spill on the surface going to continue for a few months” once it is connected, said Allen. “Long-term issues in the rehabilitation of the environment and habitats … will take years.”
Obama said after meeting with Cabinet officials at the White House that the economic impact of the spill, the Gulf Coast fishing industry threatens billion industry, will be considerable.
He said the U.S. government would “herd ride from BP to ensure that claims of Gulf Coast residents who have complained that the company not to pay promptly paid.
He was also pushing BP to be prepared for a possible hurricane in the Gulf. The Atlantic hurricane season, expected to be unusually active this year, began last week, usually peaks in August and ends in November.
BP said it was a system that, in the event of a hurricane is approaching, the preparations would drillship to collect the oil separately from a pipe that is driving up energy to about 300 feet (100 meters) below the surface and out of the storm the path. It is expected to be operational by early July.
BP STOCK
BP shares, which have lost about one third of their value since the crisis began, closed slightly lower in London trading. In New York, American Depositary BP shares closed down 1.1 percent.
“With the right LmrP (containment cap) surface skimming efficiency and response, maybe we need to advance the shoreline oil spill volumes,” Credit Suisse analysts said in a research note.
But there were still signs of investor skepticism.
Goldman Sachs downgraded its rating on BP to “neutral” from “buy,” says the leak was the London-based company is able to do global business impact, while Scandinavian bank Nordea (NDA.ST) said it had divested its shares BP, worth about 10 million euros ($ 12 million) of its funds.
Containing the spill is a critical test for Obama and BP.
Images of birds struggling through oil-soaked waters ringtone ecologically fragile barrier islands and marshes of Louisiana are added to the pressure on Obama, though with growing public criticism over his handling of the crisis.
A new Washington Post / ABC poll found that 69 percent of Americans believe the government had “not done so well” or “poor” job handling of the spill. Slightly more than 1,000 people were questioned in the poll, conducted between 6 and 6.3.
“The Great Unknown ‘
The new BP-effort, placing a containment cap with a seal on the remains of a pipe in the deep-water source. Oil is channeled into a vessel for subsequent processing in a refinery on shore.
BP said the 10,500 barrels of oil collected on Saturday and Sunday at 11 100 barrels, with 27 700 barrels of oil collected between 6.3, when the operation began, and June 6.
“We still do not know what the flow rate. This is the big unknown at this time,” Allen said.
A high-end estimate by an expert panel of U.S. government continues to leak 25,000 barrels (1.05 million gallons/3.97 one million liters) per day.
Allen said BP would rig half to send the spill site to help absorb the oil and the combination of these two … a production capacity of approximately 20,000 barrels per day. ”
“Our goal is to capture oil, for that volume,” a BP spokesman said in response to Allen’s statement without confirming the figures of the admiral.
A live video feed of the seabed leak still seems wavy black crude into the sea.
BP and state officials have said a final solution will not come until August, when a relief, and drilled. This is intended to cross the leaky and let them be properly sealed.
After infection wetlands protected areas in Louisiana and barrier islands in Mississippi and Alabama, oil started with some of the famous white sands of Florida, where the $ 60 billion hit-a-year tourism industry accounts for nearly 1 million jobs.
As clean-up crews and debris stirred up oil oiled seaweed on Pensacola Beach in Florida Panhandle to the northwest, the visitors did not seem deterred by the risk of contamination.
“It’s a terrible crisis, but we’re really not to spoil our holiday,” said Jennifer Blow from New Orleans.
source:ANP
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