Oil On The Surface

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BP says oil flowing from ruptured well to ship on Gulf surfaceBy the CNN Wire Staff

June 4, 2010 -- 10:49 a.m. EDT



The situation in the Gulf is dire, and so far, there's no end in sight. Anderson Cooper reports live from the region as BP continues to try to stop the leak. For the latest, watch "AC360°" tonight at 10 ET on CNN.

Venice, Louisiana (CNN) -- Oil is being siphoned from the ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico to the surface, where it's flowing on board a ship, BP said Friday.

The news comes after the oil company lowered a cap over the ruptured well Thursday night. On Friday, BP was planning to close four vents atop the containment cap, through which oil was still gushing into the Gulf.

The company hoped very little oil would escape once the vents were shut, BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said. He said he was optimistic that the "cut and cap" operation, which hit a snag earlier in the week, will be successful.

"I think it should work," he said.

President Obama, who told CNN's Larry King that he was "furious with the entire situation," was heading to Louisiana on Friday to meet with political and business leaders.

Obama canceled a trip to Asia for a third tour of the oil-affected Gulf Coast, underscoring the gravity of the crisis. He plans to see firsthand the slick along coastal communities and environmentally sensitive ecosystems.

Oil has already hit barrier islands off Mississippi and Alabama, and Friday, it seemed inevitable that Florida beaches would not be spared.

"You can't help but be passionate about Florida," Gov. Charlie Crist said Friday about the state's natural beauty and the importance of tourism. He added that strong leadership was needed to get through the crisis.

"You've got to keep a cool head in order to win a hot game."

BP completed a complex underwater maneuver Thursday night when it lowered the cap over the ruptured well after slicing off a damaged pipe. It was unable to achieve a fine cut on the pipe, leaving open the possibility that the seal on the cap would not be snug enough to prevent oil from leaking.

The progress was applauded but with caution.

"The placement of the containment cap is another positive development in BP's most recent attempt to contain the leak. However, it will be some time before we can confirm that this method will work," Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Tony Russell said. "Even if successful, this is only a temporary and partial fix, and we must continue our aggressive response."

Thursday's developments followed days of setbacks for workers trying to cap the well, which has spewed hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico for six weeks.

An effort to slice off the pipe with a precision diamond-edged cutter failed Wednesday, forcing BP to settle for a rougher cut of the pipe made with shears. The well may not be completely sealed off until August, when BP hopes to finish drilling a relief well.

"Our task is to contain the oil, ultimately to eliminate the leaking well and, most importantly, to clean up the oil, defend the shoreline and restore the shoreline where the oil comes ashore, so we return it to the original state," said Tony Hayward, BP's chief executive officer.

The BP CEO said Friday that the company will establish a separate division to manage the response to the massive spill.

Hayward appears this week in television ads launched as part of a national campaign to restore the British oil company's tarnished reputation. In them, Hayward apologizes and promises to "make this right."

The BP well erupted after an explosion and fire on the leased Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on April 20 that killed 11 people. The rig sank two days later, leaving up to 19,000 barrels (798,000 gallons) of oil pouring into the Gulf daily, according to federal estimates. BP, rig owner Transocean and oilfield services contractor Halliburton have all pointed fingers at one another for the disaster.

In Louisiana, where oily sludge has been fouling coastal marshes for two weeks, state officials said the White House has given its blessing to a plan to dredge up walls of sand offshore and BP agreed to fund the $360 million construction cost. But Gov. Bobby Jindal said Thursday that state officials "haven't gotten a dime from them."

"I'm calling on BP to step up [and] be the responsible party in fact, not just by label," Jindal said. He added, "We're done talking to attorneys."

But BP announced Thursday on its website that it has established a $360 million escrow account to fund construction of the six sections of Louisiana barrier islands approved by federal authorities. "Since the environmental implications of the projects are not fully understood, BP assumes no liability for unexpected or unintended consequences of these projects," the company said in a posting on the website.