Support our non-partisan non-profit newsroom 💜 Donate now

BP containing about half the Gulf oil leak

Marketplace Staff Jun 7, 2010
HTML EMBED:
COPY

BP containing about half the Gulf oil leak

Marketplace Staff Jun 7, 2010
HTML EMBED:
COPY

BP’s latest cap containing the Gulf oil leak is managing to siphone over 10,000 barrels a day to a surface tanker. While this marks some success, the company is still only containing about half the oil leaking out.

The latest cap method began over the weekend and is the latest in the oil giant’s string of failed attempts at plugging the leak. The company has also made its underwater camera taping the event public by live feed. BP hopes this cap, once sealed, will eventually capture as much as 90 percent of the oil.

BP says clean-up and containment has cost the company $1.25 billion, but investors are focused on the god news as BP shares rose today in Europe.

BP’s back-up plans

If this attempt fails, BP says its previously failed techniques might still come in handy. The company wants to try a revamped version of its “top kill” procedure, which previously failed to inject mud into the leaking pipe and stop it up. BP says within a couple weeks, it hopes it can actually use that failed hardware, which is still attached, to try to suck oil out instead. There are also more giant steel “top-hat” domes standing by. But the oil firm is warning the public that oil will probably still be leaking until August.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.