BP has collected about 127,000 barrels of oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill since installing a container cap June 3, the company said Monday.
In addition, workers transferred about 115,000 barrels of collected oil from storage on the Discoverer Enterprise to the barge Massachusetts, which carried the oil to a terminal in Mobile, Ala., BP said in its daily update on its Web site.
U.S. President Barack Obama was to make a two-day visit to the Gulf Coast beginning Monday for a first-hand look at some of the efforts to counter the spill.
Oil has been spewing into the gulf since April 20, when the Deepwater Horizon rig owned by Transocean and leased by BP exploded, killing 11
workers. The rig sank two days later.
BP officials said crews worked to install a second lower marine riser package cap system. It's purpose is to take oil and gas from the choke line of the failed Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer through a separate riser
to the another vessel on the surface. The additional system is meant to increase the amount of oil and gas that can be captured from the well and is expected to start operations in a few days, the company said.
Preparations also are under way for a more permanent and flexible containment system using floating risers, BP said. The company said it
expected this system would begin operating near the end of June or in early July.
Plans also are being developed to further enhance these systems and provide other options for additional containment capacity and flexibility as requested by the U.S. Coast Guard, BP said.
During the weekend, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar visited sites to review the progress in drilling dual relief wells to permanently stop the flow of leaking oil, the White House said in a release. BP officials estimated the relief wells would be completed in three months from the time drilling began in May.
The Obama administration said more than 27,000 personnel are working to protect and clean up shorelines and wildlife, and more than 5,400 vessels are assisting in containment and cleanup efforts. About 2.3 million feet of containment boom and 3.1 million feet of sorbent boom have been deployed.