Environment

BP Claims Oil Leak Stopped with Repaired Cap

by Jordan Yerman | July 15, 2010 at 12:26 pm

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BP Says No More Oil Flowing into Gulf of Mexico

After two days of false starts, BP is claiming success with a 75-ton cap that has apparently stopped the oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. The BP oil spill has been going on for nearly three months.

This is only a temporary fix, even if the cap proves successful. BP's ultimate solution is to drill relief wells to siphon out the remaining oil. The public is still skeptical, as BP has claimed victories in the past that did not pan out. BP is aware of this, and is not claiming success until 48 hours of maintained pressure can be demonstrated.

After fixing the leak on Thursday morning, BP resumed its testing plans, which involved shutting down the three valves that control the flow of oil through the cap.

In the long run, the cap is only a short-term solution.

BP Vice President Kent Wells cautioned that this was only the beginning of a test intended to assess whether its damaged well was strong enough to withstand the increased pressures created by 75-ton piece of plumbing designed to either siphon most of the crude to ships or even -- potentially -- shut off the flow altogether.

BP shares have risen 7% so far based on this news.

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Vern Radul

at 13:37 on July 15th, 2010

Great.

Is there any video feed now of all the leaking cracks in the seabed all around it or of oil coming up through the seabed from the damaged well bore below the seabed, that should be pumping it out faster than they were so far, now that the pressure is increased with that cap on top of the BOP?

Or are they keeping the cameras aimed away from the surrounding seabed, that looked like this a few weeks ago?