BP to face two major decisions

The situation of the oil spill which resulted from the Deepwater Horizon explosion has reached a point where two decisions must be made. These decisions are very important when it comes to solving the problem, as they could shorten the date when the well from which the oil spills, will be repaired. The first decision will definitely happen. Two ships are in the area and are collecting oil on a daily basis. It is estimated that the ships are capable of collecting about 24,000 barrels of oil daily, and are have been doing so starting with June.
The decision which will happen is that a third ship will be brought in the area to help the two other ships in the process of collecting oil. The third ship is extremely important especially since it has the capability of storing about a third of the total that the two ships can store. Together, the three ships could collect about 53,000 barrels of oil each day. Currently, the well spills about 60,000 barrels of oil daily, which means that the ships would be able of collecting 88 percent of the total amount of oil each day. The second decision is a tricky one. BP thought about replacing the cap from the well with another cap which would contain the oil much better, and as a result less oil would spill from it. The reason why it might not happen is because the process of replacing the cap might take as long as ten days which would mean that tens of thousands of barrels of oils would be spilled into the ocean.

The situation was discussed last week during a meeting which took place in Washington. The decision remains uncertain, as the US government will have to make a decision in the following days. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said that various meetings between the US officials and the people from British Petroleum took place in the past days. He mentioned that more meetings will occur in the following days, as the US officials need to receive various technical details from the British company before they make a decision. Allen did not want to mention whether the cap might be replaced or not, because there are various factors which need to be taken in consideration before a decision is made.

The third ship was supposed to be added on June 30, and the plans were made weeks before that date. The reason why the addition was delayed was because of the various heavy rains and storms which took place in the area, Hurricane Alex being amongst them. The situation has not been completely solved yet, as the waves in the area are very high and as a result the ship will have to wait a little more until the conditions are fine. It is estimated that the weather will become better in the following 48 hours, and that the conditions will allow the ship to enter the zone, without being in the danger of sinking, or suffering any damages.

The Helix Producer I, which is the name of the third ship, has the possibility of collecting about 20,000 to 25,000 barrels of oil each day. The Discoverer Enterprise can collect about 18,000 barrels per day, but it has collected about 15,000 daily. The Q4000 drilling rig, which has the main task of burning the collected oil, can burn about 10,000 barrels of oil daily, even though it burnt about 8,000 barrels each day. These estimations are a reason for concern for the people, who would like to find out more precise answers. They believe that the Obama administration is not telling the truth about the quantity of oil which is spilled in the water either, believing that in reality much more oil is being spilled. The new containment cap would be able to stop the spill completely, but even so there are chances for the operation not to be successful. When BP placed the first cap, they hit it with a device and as a result it moved from its place, releasing large amounts of oil into the water until the problem was solved. Since the operation is underwater, anything can happen.11

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