REUTERS/BP/Handout
A day after BP placed a new cap over its mile-deep underwater oil leak, discovering that so far it’s working, President Obama spoke briefly, saying in Washingtonese, “whew!”
Pressure in the well is up to 6,700 pounds per square inch. If it reaches an optimal 8,000 psi, it means no oil is leaking at all. The progress is the first that BP has really had since the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20, which killed 11 workers. However, testing is expected to continue for 48 hours to insure that the increased pressure in the well is maintained.
It’s all “good news” to the Obama administration, which is continuing to promise that BP will pay for the damage caused while at the same time pressuring BP to make the fix. But the president is cautious first because the relief wells that are supposed to be the final solution to the gusher are not complete yet, and second, the oil flow has apparently stopped but scientists must continue to test to be sure there’s no leakage at all.
“Even if it turns out that we can’t maintain this cap and completely shut off the flow of oil, what the new cap allows us to do is to essentially attach many more containment mechanisms so that we’re able to take more oil up to the surface, put it on ships — it won’t be spilling into the Gulf,” Obama said.