(BP Gulf Oil Spill) Containment Box Hovers Above Seafloor in Gulf

[Statistical]

BP Plc lowered nearly to the seafloor a 40-foot-tall structure that may capture as much as 85 percent of the oil leaking from a well into the Gulf of Mexico.

The containment system hasn’t begun working yet and the exact timeline for installing the containment box remains “fluid,” said Mark Salt, a spokesman for BP in Houston. If it works properly, it would capture crude from the largest leak at a well that began spilling oil after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank in the Gulf last month.

“It’s gone a long way down, but it’s not ready yet,” he said. “They’re prepping the seabed, making sure everything is safe down there.”

The box, a rectangular structure with a pyramid-dome on top, is designed to send oil from the Macondo well and channel it through pipes to a tanker in the Gulf where it will be stored and taken to shore. BP, based in London, owns the well, which is about 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) below the water’s surface. The rig was owned by Geneva-based Transocean Ltd.

Similar boxes have been used to funnel crude from leaking wells in shallow water before. This is the deepest deployment of the system, according to a fact sheet provided by BP.

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http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-07/bp-oil-containment-box-hovers-above-seafloor-in-gulf-update1-.html

[revolution breeze]

1. They will be keeping a close eye on this thing

Over the next week. Fingers crossed!

[gimama]

2. :( k&r

thanks for posting this.

[FLPanhandle]

3. Fingers crossed

I hope this works beyond their expectations.

[LiberalAndProud]

4. Hope this works.