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Coast Guard: 11,000 Barrels of Oil Captured in Gulf in 24 Hours

   VOA News 07 June 2010
   Booming operations continue off the coast of Orange Beach, Alabama, 07
   Jun 2010

Photo: AP

   Booming operations continue off the coast of Orange Beach, Alabama, 07
   Jun 2010

   The  U.S.  official  overseeing the government response to the Gulf of
   Mexico  oil spill says a cap placed over the leaking well has captured
   11,000 barrels of oil in a 24-hour period.

   Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen says oil company BP hopes to boost that
   amount  of  captured oil to 20,000 barrels a day. He says the oil that
   has  already  spilled  into  the  Gulf has broken up into "hundreds of
   thousands" of patches of oil.

   The admiral spoke at the White House Monday, before briefing President
   Barack Obama on the latest developments to contain the worst oil spill
   in U.S. history.

   Before the cap, about 20,000 barrels of oil were leaking each day into
   the  Gulf,  following the April 20 explosion and subsequent sinking of
   an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana.

   Admiral  Allen  says  the  effort  to  contain  the  flow is likely to
   continue   for  months,  until  relief  wells  now  being  drilled  to
   completely stop the flow are completed.

   BP  says  it  will try to install a second cap that could increase the
   amount  of  oil captured from the leaking well. It says the new device
   could be ready sometime next week.

   The  oil giant says it has already spent $1.25 billion in its attempts
   to  stop  the  leak and clean up the oil. It says that amount does not
   include $360 million to be spent on a project to build barrier islands
   to protect the Louisiana coastline from the oil.

   Increasing  quantities  of  thick  oily  sludge  are  making their way
   eastward  toward  Florida, washing up on some of the region's pristine
   white sand beaches and coating marshes and wildlife in black ooze.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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