New BP cap, ships could capture all leaking oil: US

Anyone else see an epic fail with this??? Or are they going to call in those Russian subs?

source

A new underwater cap and more ships could capture all the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, in a triple-fold increase boosting containment to 80,000 barrels a day, a top US official said Thursday.
Pending the right weather conditions, Coast Guard Thad Allen said BP is in position to replace the containment cap on the ruptured well, which would give a better seal to capture the leaking oil.

"That would allow us at some point, as other production platforms are brought onboard during the month of July, to increase the production rate to between 60,000 to 80,000 barrels (per day)," Allen told reporters.

Currently, on average, some 25,000 barrels per day (bpd) is being captured in the effort to contain the disastrous oil leak.

If the 80,000 bpd figure is achieved, Allen said, the production capacity would exceed the current estimated flow of between 35,000 to 60,000 bpd spewing into the sea since an April explosion on a BP-leased oil drilling rig.

US officials previously said that a new processing vessel Helix Producer, which is two to three days away from being connected to the containment system, would more double the amount of oil that can be siphoned, to 53,000 bpd.

A new depression was churning Thursday in the Gulf, and although it was not expected to grow into a major hurricane, tropical storm warnings were issued for the Texas and Mexican coastlines.

Allen maintained on the conference call however that it appeared "we have the sea state we need" for connecting the Helix Producer to the containment system.

British energy giant BP has been struggling to permanently cap the leak, with oil now soiling the coastlines of the five Gulf states, and is drilling two relief wells due to be completed in mid-August.

I find the repeated use of the word "production" very unsettling. They magically decide they should up "production" capacity and now they can produce 80,000 barrels a day.

How is it possible that BP is still being allowed to treat this as a business venture?

Originally posted by des9996
I find the repeated use of the word "production" very unsettling. They magically decide they should up "production" capacity and now they can produce 80,000 barrels a day.

How is it possible that BP is still being allowed to treat this as a business venture?

Because thats how the world works. Everything is about business. Corporations run the show and everything else on the planet is a comodity.

Sick but what can we do about it?

Anyone else see an epic fail with this???

The epic fail would be if all this junk they are hooking up becomes necessary. If that relief well bottom kill works, none of this junk will be necessary. If however that bottom kill fails, that will mean that the well is busted up above. And if the well is busted up above, that will mean it's only a matter of time before the rest of that well is eroded away and the show will be over. I'm surprised they are even messing with any of this. If they can't stop the flow from down below, there's really no point in trying to capture any of that oil, because the real epic disaster is a couple months away.