BP: Total Oil Recovered On Wednesday About 16,830 Barrels

24th Jun 2010 16:18

By Brian Baskin Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) saw its oil collection drop on Wednesday, after spending much of the day reinstalling a containment cap on a leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico, the company said in a statement Thursday. BP collected 16,830 barrels of oil, down nearly 40% from the day before. Earlier on Wednesday, a robot submarine collided with the containment cap, forcing the company to halt the flow of oil up to the Deepwater Enterprise rig on the surface and jeopardizing a promise to the U.S. Coast Guard to boost collection to 53,000 barrels a day next week. The containment cap, which can collect up to 18,000 barrels a day, was reinstalled on the well's blowout preventer at 7:30 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, the company said. Another vessel, the Q4000, continued to capture oil throughout the day at a rate of about 10,000 barrels a day. BP made its pledge to the Coast Guard as the company and the federal government have come under increasing political pressure to halt the flow of oil from the well, which has leaked for over two months. The spill was triggered when the Deepwater Horizon rig caught fire and sank in April. BP and the Coast Guard have raised estimates of the amount of oil gushing into the Gulf many times since the accident. BP's promised collection rate totals more than 50 times the initial estimate of the flow rate from the well. But collection efforts may stall again next week if a storm system working its way through the Caribbean Sea strengthens into a hurricane once it reaches the Gulf of Mexico. The National Hurricane Center gives the system a 40% chance of becoming a named storm in its latest forecast. -By Brian Baskin, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2453; [email protected] Order free Annual Report for BP plc Visit http://djnewswires.ar.wilink.com/?link=BP or call 1-888-301-0513 Order free Annual Report for Transocean Inc. Visit http://djnewswires.ar.wilink.com/?link=RIG or call 1-888-301-0513 (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 24, 2010 11:18 ET (15:18 GMT)