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U.S.: Oil Response Progressing, Help on the Way
Help is on the way to bolster the work being done to contain the crude spewing from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, including a tanker from the North Sea that will provide an important assist, the point man for the government's response to the disaster said Wednesday.
The current containment system is catching 630,000 gallons daily, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said at a news briefing in Washington. Officials had previously cited that figure as the system's general capacity, but Allen said officials now believe it can handle 756,000 gallons daily.
Even so, there's still more oil eluding capture. To help gather the rest of the oil, BP is bringing in a second vessel that will increase capacity, as well as the North Sea shuttle tanker that will assist in the transport of the oil. The company previously also said it plans to switch out the current containment cap with a slightly larger one that will seal better and trap more oil.
The government is also keeping a close eye on how BP is reimbursing people for their losses in the Gulf. Allen has written to BP CEO Tony Hayward demanding "more detail and openness" about how the company is handling mounting damage claims, reminding the beleaguered executive that his company "is accountable to the American public for the economic loss caused by the oil spill."
Read Adm.Allen's Letter to BP CEO Tony Hayward
Special Section: Disaster in the Gulf
The government has estimated that around 600,000 to 1.2 million gallons a day are leaking, but a scientist on a government team studying the oil flow said Tuesday that his group may determine the daily rate is, in fact, somewhere between 798,000 gallons and 1.8 million gallons.
That means an amount of oil equivalent to two Olympic-size swimming pools might still be escaping daily into the open sea.
BP COO Don Suttles conceded the company "will never capture every drop," during an appearance on CBS' "The Early Show".
"What we're trying to get to is to where we capture the vast majority," Suttles said.
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The oil now being captured is being pumped to a ship on the surface where workers are burning off the natural gas attached to the crude and shipping the remaining oil to shore. In addition, the British oil giant is preparing to deploy a device called an EverGreen Burner that turns the oil-and-gas mixture into a vapor that is pushed out its 12 nozzles and burned without creating visible smoke.
The burn rig will be moved away from the main leak site so the flames and heat do not endanger other vessels, BP spokesman Max McGahan said Tuesday. He did not know when BP might start using the burner, although company officials have said they want the rig that will carry it to start processing oil by mid-June.
Depending on which model is used and its settings, it can handle 10,500 to 630,000 gallons of oil a day, according to promotional materials by Schlumberger Ltd., the company that makes the device and whose website touts it as producing "fallout-free and smokeless combustion."
It's unclear how many times the EverGreen burner has been used, but it has been proposed for at least one offshore rig in the North Sea to get rid of unwanted gases produced during oil processing.
Environmental documents produced as part of that project, an exploration well proposed by Total E&P of Britain, said burning the oil posed "a moderate risk to the environment" that would release sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, methane and other chemicals.
Wilma Subra, a chemist with the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, said BP should avoid burning the captured oil - which she said raises new health risks - and instead bring in more processing equipment.
"This is one of those decisions that will have negative impacts," she said. "Even though it's crude dispersed in water, the burning of crude will raise some health issues."
When it sells the oil recovered from the Gulf, BP will use the revenues to create a fund to protect wildlife in the region, the company said.
Map shows the forecast location for gulf oil spill for Wednesday, June 9, 2010.
Officials in President Barack Obama's administration are talking with BP about a longer-term containment strategy with "built-in redundancies," Allen said. Mr. Obama is scheduled to return to the Gulf Coast on Monday and Tuesday for a two-day update on the spill.
Allen also noted that he and other officials are meeting with BP later Wednesday to discuss problems with the handling of damage claims related to the April 20 accident.
"We need complete, ongoing transparency into BP's claims process including detailed information on how claims are being evaluated, how payment amounts are being calculated and how quickly claims are being processed," Allen wrote.
Suttles, the COO, defended the company's response to damage claims.
"The claims process has been running since the very beginning, and we've tried to get money in to people's hands quickly. I think something like over half the claims have already been paid," he said.
Suttles touted the fact that Alabama Gov. Bob Riley was launching an effort to use National Guard and emergency management personnel to aid in the claims process, only to be challenged by "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith.
"You guys did that because you guys aren't getting the job done. Because the frustration is so [much]" that the National Guard has been called in "to make sure the pot doesn't boil over down there," Smith said.
Speaking to network news shows Wednesday morning, BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles continued to insist that no massive underwater oil plumes in "large concentrations" have been detected from the spill. His comments came a day after the government said water tests confirmed underwater oil plumes, but said concentrations were low.
"I think all we can know for certain is what we've measured and what NOAA's measured and others have measured. And we're talking about parts per million or parts per billion. So far no one has found any significant concentrations below the surface," he told "The Early Show."
It's been seven weeks since the BP oil rig explosion that set off the catastrophe. The most recent government estimates put the total amount of oil lost at 23.7 million to 51.5 million gallons, making it by far the nation's largest oil spill.
© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The current containment system is catching 630,000 gallons daily, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said at a news briefing in Washington. Officials had previously cited that figure as the system's general capacity, but Allen said officials now believe it can handle 756,000 gallons daily.
Even so, there's still more oil eluding capture. To help gather the rest of the oil, BP is bringing in a second vessel that will increase capacity, as well as the North Sea shuttle tanker that will assist in the transport of the oil. The company previously also said it plans to switch out the current containment cap with a slightly larger one that will seal better and trap more oil.
The government is also keeping a close eye on how BP is reimbursing people for their losses in the Gulf. Allen has written to BP CEO Tony Hayward demanding "more detail and openness" about how the company is handling mounting damage claims, reminding the beleaguered executive that his company "is accountable to the American public for the economic loss caused by the oil spill."
Read Adm.Allen's Letter to BP CEO Tony Hayward
Special Section: Disaster in the Gulf
The government has estimated that around 600,000 to 1.2 million gallons a day are leaking, but a scientist on a government team studying the oil flow said Tuesday that his group may determine the daily rate is, in fact, somewhere between 798,000 gallons and 1.8 million gallons.
That means an amount of oil equivalent to two Olympic-size swimming pools might still be escaping daily into the open sea.
BP COO Don Suttles conceded the company "will never capture every drop," during an appearance on CBS' "The Early Show".
"What we're trying to get to is to where we capture the vast majority," Suttles said.
Oil Spill Wildlife Devastation
CBS News Answers Oil Spill Questions
Palin to Obama: "What the Heck, Give Me a Call"
BP's Spill Contingency Plans Vastly Inadequate
Touring the Massive Oil Spill
BP Rig Not the Only One Leaking Oil in Gulf
White House to Allow for Shallow Water Oil Drilling
Oil Spill's Erratic Geography Fuels Angst
Obama's Talk Gets Tougher on Gulf Oil Spill
The oil now being captured is being pumped to a ship on the surface where workers are burning off the natural gas attached to the crude and shipping the remaining oil to shore. In addition, the British oil giant is preparing to deploy a device called an EverGreen Burner that turns the oil-and-gas mixture into a vapor that is pushed out its 12 nozzles and burned without creating visible smoke.
The burn rig will be moved away from the main leak site so the flames and heat do not endanger other vessels, BP spokesman Max McGahan said Tuesday. He did not know when BP might start using the burner, although company officials have said they want the rig that will carry it to start processing oil by mid-June.
Depending on which model is used and its settings, it can handle 10,500 to 630,000 gallons of oil a day, according to promotional materials by Schlumberger Ltd., the company that makes the device and whose website touts it as producing "fallout-free and smokeless combustion."
It's unclear how many times the EverGreen burner has been used, but it has been proposed for at least one offshore rig in the North Sea to get rid of unwanted gases produced during oil processing.
Environmental documents produced as part of that project, an exploration well proposed by Total E&P of Britain, said burning the oil posed "a moderate risk to the environment" that would release sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, methane and other chemicals.
Wilma Subra, a chemist with the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, said BP should avoid burning the captured oil - which she said raises new health risks - and instead bring in more processing equipment.
"This is one of those decisions that will have negative impacts," she said. "Even though it's crude dispersed in water, the burning of crude will raise some health issues."
When it sells the oil recovered from the Gulf, BP will use the revenues to create a fund to protect wildlife in the region, the company said.
Map shows the forecast location for gulf oil spill for Wednesday, June 9, 2010.
(AP/CBS/NOAA)
Officials in President Barack Obama's administration are talking with BP about a longer-term containment strategy with "built-in redundancies," Allen said. Mr. Obama is scheduled to return to the Gulf Coast on Monday and Tuesday for a two-day update on the spill.
Allen also noted that he and other officials are meeting with BP later Wednesday to discuss problems with the handling of damage claims related to the April 20 accident.
"We need complete, ongoing transparency into BP's claims process including detailed information on how claims are being evaluated, how payment amounts are being calculated and how quickly claims are being processed," Allen wrote.
Suttles, the COO, defended the company's response to damage claims.
"The claims process has been running since the very beginning, and we've tried to get money in to people's hands quickly. I think something like over half the claims have already been paid," he said.
Suttles touted the fact that Alabama Gov. Bob Riley was launching an effort to use National Guard and emergency management personnel to aid in the claims process, only to be challenged by "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith.
"You guys did that because you guys aren't getting the job done. Because the frustration is so [much]" that the National Guard has been called in "to make sure the pot doesn't boil over down there," Smith said.
Speaking to network news shows Wednesday morning, BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles continued to insist that no massive underwater oil plumes in "large concentrations" have been detected from the spill. His comments came a day after the government said water tests confirmed underwater oil plumes, but said concentrations were low.
"I think all we can know for certain is what we've measured and what NOAA's measured and others have measured. And we're talking about parts per million or parts per billion. So far no one has found any significant concentrations below the surface," he told "The Early Show."
It's been seven weeks since the BP oil rig explosion that set off the catastrophe. The most recent government estimates put the total amount of oil lost at 23.7 million to 51.5 million gallons, making it by far the nation's largest oil spill.
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Round up all the gays and ship them to the shores of the gulf. Plenty of lubrication they can use, and it's a win/win for all.
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Ah, a hater. Nothing I could say would change your mind. It's kind of like arguing with a KKKer. But I would like to go on record as saying your position is despicable, and I would suggest that you are a small, mean-spirited and fearful person. I feel sorry for you.
It has become apparent the cap is not clamped to the well, just resting atop the well, and if it captures more oil than it is presently capturing it'll build up oil pressure and get pushed off the top of the well. It is also apparent the base rubber sealing gasket that was mentioned in the description is inappropriately applied in this application and has been incapable of sealing from the start. The base seal's purpose is apparently as a pacifier. The base gasket is a complete failure, the best I can tell, though if it restricted the flow of any oil, the single closed vent would need to be opened to prevent pressure buildup that would lift the containment cap off the well.
One thing is absolutely certain: This containment cap was never designed to stop the flow of oil and handle pressure, only to permit the relaxed piping of some of the oil to a surface ship. This has become clear by the low-pressure gasketing and lack of clamping.
As an armchair observer, I've always considered a containment solution must include a way to shut the oil flow down completely, to later attach piping to a surface ship and then reopen the cap in order to permanently secure the well, and not leaking while doing so.
I'd never contemplated the purpose for a cap was simply to funnel oil to a fleet of surface ships. The news reports have been stating that only one of the four vents on the cap have been closed and better performance can be expected in the days ahead, but what they have not stated is that only one vent can possibly be closed without oil pressure building and lifting the cheesy cap clean off the well. I am assuming BP plans to increase oil capture from 63,000 barrels a day to 75,000 barrels a day, as announced, by having the robots install bungie cords between the cap and the well.
This cap is not a fix. It is a stall. It is choreographed distraction that has us looking at bogus wildlife funds. Apparently, half the oil, or more, is still escaping into the Gulf. That is the ongoing issue and should be the primary focus.
It does seem the riser pipe may have been clipped off a bit closer to the wellhead than it should have and perhaps can't be used to reliably seal against as hoped, but that is now done. Invariably, the stubby riser pipe has become a fixed constraint of the wellhead and it can still be used to define and quickly develop a functioning fix that captures all escaping oil and shuts the wellhead down. Just because BP says it takes a full month to come up with another cheesy fix doesn't mean a large number of appropriate fixes can't be developed, designed, and fabricated within a two and three week period, if resources were properly directed.
should read 630,000 and 750,000 gallons.