UPDATE: BP Says Has Reattached Cap For Leaking Undersea Well

24th Jun 2010 03:53

(Adds background, details.) NEW ORLEANS (AFP)--The oil containment system in the Gulf of Mexico was reattached and is capturing oil again, BP PLC (BP) said, after it was halted earlier Wednesday following a collision involving a robotic submarine. The cap "was successfully reinstalled on the Deepwater Horizon's failed blow-out preventer" at 6:30 p.m. local time (1130 GMT), BP said in a statement, adding that "the system resumed collecting oil and gas" a half hour later. Oil and gas for some 10 hours spewed unhindered into the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday after BP detached its containment cap to make repairs after a remote-controlled submarine crashed into it. The setback had marked a terrible start for American Bob Dudley in his first day as BP's disaster coordinator, brought in by the firm to replace Chief Executive Tony Hayward after weeks of flak over his response to the crisis. The cap was previously siphoning away some 25,000 barrels of oil each day, and removing that capacity left between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels of crude flowing directly into the sea, according to the latest U.S. government estimates. (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 23, 2010 22:53 ET (02:53 GMT)