UPDATE: BP Oil-Recovery Rates Hold Steady As Storm Subsides

3rd Jul 2010 23:38

(Updates with latest oil-collection figures and comments from Coast Guard official.) By Anna Raff Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) said the rate at which it was recovering oil was holding steady as a large skimming vessel is undergoing preparations in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil giant said it retrieved 12,035 barrels during the first half of Saturday, roughly a third of which was burned. BP collected a total of 25,290 barrels on Friday, a slight increase from the 25,150 collected Thursday. This brings the total number of barrels of oil recovered since the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded to almost 600,000, BP said in an operational update on its website on Saturday. The blast that sunk Transocean Ltd.'s (RIG) Deepwater Horizon in late April killed 11 workers and caused the oil spill that is now ranked as one of the largest in history. Scientists estimate that 35,000-60,000 barrels of crude oil are flowing out of the Macondo well every day. The oil-recovery rate has stabilized following disruptions caused by Hurricane Alex, which made landfall in Mexico hundreds of miles west of the spill but whose storm surge halted operations to skim oil off surface waters near the coast. Large amounts of oil weren't visible near the Chandeleur Islands off the coast of Louisiana, said Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft, representative of the U.S. Coast Guard commandant, who flew over the area on Friday as skimmers and barriers called boom were being redeployed. "We are not out of the woods yet," a press release quoted Zukunft as saying. Officials began testing on Friday the A Whale ship, a Taiwanese ship that has been retrofitted to become the world's largest skimming vessel. If successful, the ship has the potential to take in as much oil-infused water in a day as smaller skimming boats have collected in two months. In addition, preparations are also underway to hook up a third containment vessel called the Helix Producer to the well. It's set to come on line on July 7 and is expected to boost oil-collection rates. The oil spill has damaged the Gulf's fragile ecosystem and marred hundreds of miles of coastline, hurting the region's fishing and tourism industries. It has wiped billions from BP's market value and catalyzed opposition to offshore drilling for hydrocarbons. The spill has forced the Obama administration to respond aggressively by overhauling regulations and decreeing a moratorium on offshore drilling, as well as by pushing for new energy legislation. The moratorium is currently being challenged in the courts. -By Anna Raff, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2150; [email protected] (Ann Zimmerman of The Wall Street Journal and Susan Daker in Houston contributed to this article.) (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 03, 2010 18:38 ET (22:38 GMT)