Obama Presses BP on Procedures to Recover More Oil

[Cetacea]

Source: N.Y. Times

WASHINGTON — With a week long window of favorable weather opening in the Gulf of Mexico, the Obama administration is pressing BP to move quickly on two operations that could double the amount of oil captured from the gushing well...

The administration sent BP a letter Thursday asking for details of how the company planned to proceed with attaching the Helix and replacing the cap while minimizing the unimpeded flow of oil during the changeover. The government wants to know how much of the oil BP can skim, burn or disperse during the swap."


A top BP executive told The Wall Street Journal and NBC on Wednesday that under the most favorable conditions, the well could be killed by July 27, although he cautioned that the weather or technical problems could push that back. The original completion date was mid-August.

A senior administration official dismissed the new date as probably overly optimistic. “It needs to be done in a safe and responsible manner,” the official said, discussing the matter with reporters on condition of anonymity because the official is not designated by the government to speak about the spill. “We don’t think that’s a reasonable expectation of a date.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/us/09spill.html?src=mv

[Mimosa]

1. Scary. Good you posted some credible info, Cetacea. n/t

[truedelphi]

2. A president can use the powers of his office to exact such needed actions.

Obama would rather scold, harangue and plead than use the authority of an Executive Order.

If that oil was gushing up through the kids' WH bedroom, and making Bo bark, I bet he'd do something.

Why is he so hands off with our lives, our finances and our resources??

[Mimosa]

3. This should have been declared a national emergency. n/t

[dipsydoodle]

4. Same subject ? BP must give answers on oil well, US government says

BP has been given 24 hours to answer questions on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, says the US government's incident commander.

Adm Thad Allen sent a letter to the oil giant's managing director Bob Dudley saying the company must hand over "detailed plans and timelines" on stopping the leak.

The information is needed before BP is allowed to change caps on the oil well.

Switching to a cap with a tighter seal would allow more oil to be captured.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/10556039.stm