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Slideshow: BP begins new containment cap on oil well, may contain the leak (photos, live video)

Charisse Van Horn's photo
Oil Spill Recovery Examiner
The arm of a remotely operated vehicle works at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill site in the Gulf.
The arm of a remotely operated vehicle works at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill site in the Gulf.
AP Photo/BP PLC

Slideshow:: BP begins new containment cap on oil well, may contain the leak (photos, live video)

BP announced plans to install a new containment cap on the oil well and it is hoped the project will be completed within one week. Senior Vice President Kent Wells spoke about the plans during a press briefing Saturday.

Authorities with BP are beginning the work this weekend, taking advantage of favorable weather conditions. BP hopes to stop the oil flow that has gushed from the ruptured underwater well since the devastating April 20, 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

Though the intent is to contain the flow of oil, the new containment cap would be a temporary fix. Two relief wells are currently being constructed and BP plans to install those as a permanent fix in August.

The new containment cap would work in conjunction with the Helix Producer which is a vessel expected to being collecting oil by Sunday. The Helix Producer should contain as much as 25,000 barrels of leaking oil within three days, according to BP estimates. That is the equivalent of 840,000 to 1.5 million gallons of leaked crude oil that would be recovered.

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Slideshow: BP Oil Spill Recovery New Containment Cap Installation Begins

15 photos
In this image taken from video provided by BP PLC, the arm of a remotely operated vehicle works at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill site in the Gulf of Mexico, Saturday, July 10, 2010. Undersea robots manipulated by engineers a mile above were expected to begin work Saturday removing the containment cap over the gushing well head in the Gulf of Mexico to replace it with a tighter-fitting cap that could funnel all the oil to tankers at the surface. If all goes according to plan, the tandem of the tighter cap and the tankers could keep all the oil from polluting the fragile Gulf as soon as Monday. But it would be only a temporary solution to the catastrophe unleashed by a drilling rig explosion. It won't plug the busted well and it remains uncertain that it will succeed. (AP Photo/BP PLC) NO SALES

Slideshow: BP Oil Spill Recovery New Containment Cap Installation Begins

, Oil Spill Recovery Examiner

Charisse Van Horn is a successful freelance writer who has written for numerous genres including investigative journalism and grant writing. She volunteers her time for causes such as homelessness, domestic abuse, and the rehabilitation of those who've been incarcerated.

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