A containment cap fitted onto a leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico is capturing 10,000 barrels of oil per day, BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said Sunday.
Hayward, the subject of speculation that he may be forced out of his position due to the political fallout from the environmental disaster, also told the BBC that he had strong support from BP’s board.
“The containment cap is producing around 10,000 barrels of oil a day to the surface which is being processed on the surface,” he said. Asked what proportion that represented of the total oil leaking, Hayward said: “At the moment it’s difficult to say but we would expect it to be the majority, probably the vast majority of the oil.”
Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Saturday that after its first full day of work, the cap placed on the gusher near the sea floor trapped about 252,000 gallons of oil, which is somewhere between a quarter to half of the oil flowing from the well, according to government estimates. “We are going to stop the leak, we are going to clean up the oil, we’re going to remediate any environmental damage and we are going to return the Gulf coast to the position it was in prior to this event,” Hayward said. “That is an absolute commitment. We will be there long after the media has gone making good on our promises.”
The oil has steadily spread east, washing up in greater quantities in recent days.
Government officials estimate that roughly 22 million to 48 million gallons have leaked into the Gulf since the April 20 explosion that killed 11 workers.
F*ck BP, they need to fix this mess they’ve made ASAP.
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