US Coast Guard: Lower Capture Rates Over Past 2 Days Due To Bad Weather

21st Jun 2010 18:43

By Susan Daker Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES HOUSTON (DOW JONES)--BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) oil capture rates have slowed in the past two days due to a technical snag and inclement weather near the broken Macondo well, a foreboding sign as the U.S. Gulf of Mexico moves into peak hurricane season. The containment efforts must be halted anytime lightning is seen within five miles of the well site and the system can be slowed by the need to perform routine maintenance, U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Monday at a news conference. "We are pressing them (BP) to create redundant systems," to prevent these problems, Allen said. In a release Monday, BP said it collected 14,570 barrels of oil on Sunday. It flared 8,720 barrels of oil. It flared 48.3 million of cubic feet of natural gas Sunday. On Saturday, BP captured 11,050 barrels of oil a day and flared 9,990 barrels. The operation hit a record Thursday, collecting more than 25,000 barrels of oil. On June 15, lightning struck a derrick on one of the collection ships, shutting down operations for about five hours, Allen said. A hurricane would disrupt containment efforts leaving most, if not all, of the oil to spill into the Gulf, Allen said. Scientists charged by the U.S. government to investigate the well's flow rates, estimate that about 35,000 to 60,000 barrels a day are spewing from the well. BP is under intense pressure to capture as much oil as possible in order to prevent any further devastation to wildlife and the economy of the Gulf Coast. Meteorologists have predicted that weather patterns could produce an above-average hurricane season this summer. Allen said he plans to sit down with BP to discuss different plans, depending on the strength of a hurricane. In the meantime, a third ship is scheduled to arrive at the well site next week and should increase the system's capacity to collect oil. BP hopes to be able to collect 50,000 barrels a day by the end June. That number could rise to 80,000, if the company replaces the current cap with a sturdier one. "It will be necessary to switch caps," Allen said. However, he said the timing of the switch is still under discussion and he backed away from his early statements that BP could be able to capture up to 80,000 barrels a day by July. "I think we need to make sure that we get to 53,000 (first)," Allen said. Any sort of cap is only a temporary fix until relief wells can be completed. One of those wells is scheduled to be completed in the second week of August, Allen said. The well has reached a depth of 10,600 feet, he said. BP and the Coast Guard are continuing to discuss the possibility that the well could have another uncontrolled leak at anytime because of the instability of the well's structure. However, those worries are currently "generalized concerns," Allen said. -By Susan Daker, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9208; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 21, 2010 13:43 ET (17:43 GMT)