BP: Approximately 23,725 Barrels Of Oil Captured On June 24

25th Jun 2010 15:44

HOUSTON (Dow Jones)--BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) captured a total of 23,725 barrels of crude oil from the broken Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, about a 30% increase over the previous day, the company said in a statement Friday. The increase in the collection rate can be attributed to the fact that BP had to shut down its operation on Wednesday because a underwater robot collided with a containment cap placed on the well. Late Wednesday, BP replaced the cap and restarted oil collection. Of the oil captured Thursday, BP collected about 15,785 barrels and flared 7,940 barrels. It also flared about 54.7 million cubic feet of natural gas. The collection efforts may stall again next week as if a tropical storm moves into the Gulf. On Friday morning, the National Hurricane Center said a low pressure area between Honduras and the Grand Cayman had a 70%, or high chance, of becoming a tropical cyclone in the next 48 hours. Since the well began gushing in late April, BP has recovered a total of 388,000 barrels of oil. Federal and independent scientists estimate that about 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil a day are flowing from the well. -By Susan Daker, Dow Jones Newswires; (713) 547-9208; [email protected] Order free Annual Report for BP plc Visit http://djnewswires.ar.wilink.com/?link=BP or call 1-888-301-0513 (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 25, 2010 10:44 ET (14:44 GMT)