Tag: Open Thread

A day after President Barack Obama visited the region for the second time since the oil spill began in April, energy giant BP could offer little but assurances that the bid was ongoing, but that it was too early to judge its success.

“It’s not a nice little black and white operation and they’ve got to take it as it comes,” said Robert Wine, a spokesman for the British firm.

A day after he pledged to take responsibility for stopping and cleaning up the disastrous spill, Obama was in the region for his second visit to assess the situation.

Meanwhile, a US official cited progress in BP’s efforts to plug the leak, but the energy giant warned it would take two days to determine the measure’s success.

“They’ve been able to stabilize the wellhead, they’re pumping mud down it. They’ve stopped the hydrocarbons from coming up,” said Coast Guard chief Thad Allen, who is coordinating the US government’s battle against the oil spill.

He told local radio WWL First News that BP “had some success overnight” but cautioned the British energy giant was “in a period of kind of wait and see right now where they see how the well stabilizes.”

Shortly after winning final approval from US officials for the procedure to go ahead, the British energy giant announced the maneuver dubbed a “top kill” had begun at 1800 GMT.

But after several previous failed attempts to cap the oil, BP boss Tony Hayward has already downplayed hopes of success, cautioning such a procedure has never been tried before at such depth and against such pressure.

BP’s top officer downplayed the likelihood that the desperate effort will succeed in actually sealing the pipe, which is spewing hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude into the Gulf each day.

“If it was on land we would have a very high confidence of success, but… we need to be realistic about the issues around operating in a mile of water,” BP CEO Tony Hayward told reporters on Monday.