BP Oil Recovery Improves, Tropical Storm Alex Raises Concerns

26th Jun 2010 15:35

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES BP recovered slightly more oil from a leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, but the approach of Tropical Storm Alex may complicate cleanup efforts. The oil company said in a statement Saturday that 24,550 barrels of oil were recovered Friday from the well off the Louisiana coast, up 3.5% from Thursday's total. BP is sending oil up through a containment cap to the Discoverer Enterprise rig on the surface. It is also collecting oil using a second rig, the Q4000. The well has leaked since a rig working at the site caught fire and sank in April. Government and independent estimates put the flow of oil out of the well between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels a day. On Friday, BP also flared 54.5 million cubic feet of natural gas from the well, the company said. Both BP and federal responders said they are preparing for the arrival in the Gulf of the first named storm of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season. The National Hurricane Center predicts Tropical Storm Alex could enter the Gulf early next week, though projections put the path of the storm west of the spill toward Texas. If the storm appears to have a chance of turning toward Louisiana, BP would disconnect the Discoverer Enterprise from the well 114 hours before gale force winds are predicted to reach the well, and would move the Q4000 56 hours before the storm. The oil company is bringing the Helix Producer, a rig designed to withstand harsher weather, to the site, though it may not arrive before the other rigs are detached. "Of course we are watching that very closely right now," said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the point man for the response to the oil spill. Spill responders will act "out of an abundance of caution," he said at a press conference on Friday, and could move "in advance of a declaration" from weather authorities about the storm's strength. The high winds and rough seas kicked up by a storm may disperse some of the oil, though storm surges could also carry the spill inland, according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. -By Brian Baskin, Dow Jones Newswires; [email protected]; (212) 416-2453 (Susan Daker and Angel Gonzalez contributed to this article.) (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 26, 2010 10:35 ET (14:35 GMT)