BP Shares Rise on Annoucement of Good Oil Spill Containment Progress

BP Plc announced that the company’s lower marine riser package (LMRP) containment cap, installed on June 3, has collected a total of 10,500 barrels of oil on June 5 and that 22 million standard cubic feet of natural gas was flared. From June 3 through June 5, the volume of oil collected was 16,600 barrels and 32.7 million standard cubic feet of natural gas was flared.

The news was greeted with a jump in BP’s share price, which are up 2.26 percent at 1348 GMT.

2 more planned additions are in the works to try to optimize and improve the oil collection, and the company says it will need a few more days before an assessment can be made as to the success of this containment effort.

One of the new systems is intended to increase the overall efficiency of the containment operation by possibly increasing the amount of oil and gas that can be captured from the well and is currently expected to be available for deployment in mid-June.

In the meantime, work on the first relief well has currently reached a depth of 12,956 feet. The second relief well is at 8,576 feet. Both wells are still estimated to take approximately three months to complete from commencement of drilling.