BP: 25,830 barrels of oil captured or burned Monday

BP said today that its oil-capture systems at the gushing leak in the Gulf of Mexico collected or burned off 25,830 barrels of oil on Monday, the highest amount yet.

The British energy giant is using two systems to capture some of the oil spewing into the ocean from the deep-sea offshore well that ruptured on April 20 and caused a huge spill.

The two systems on Monday were 2,170 barrels away from their combined 28,000 barrels per day capacity, according to BP figures. The most they had collected or burned off before Monday was 25,290 barrels on June 17, according to BP figures.

An undetermined amount of crude continues to gush into the sea despite BP's two collection systems. The U.S. government estimates that up to 60,000 barrels of oil are gushing from the ruptured well per day.

The containment cap system, which was installed on June 3, collected 15,560 barrels on Monday, while a second system, which started up on June 16, burned off 10,270 barrels, BP said on its website on Tuesday.

The second system is siphoning oil from BP's leaking Macondo well through a hose hooked up from a failed blowout preventer to a service rig a mile (1.6 km) above at the water's surface, BP said.

That rig, the Helix Q4000, has no storage or processing capability, so all siphoned oil and gas must be burned or flared off, according to BP and the U.S. Coast Guard.

BP and the Coast Guard have said the Q4000 could handle up to 10,000 barrels a day, but it has twice exceeded that rate after quickly ramping up. On June 18, it burned off 10,100 barrels, and more on Monday.

BP spokesman David Nicholas said on Tuesday that while the Q4000 has been able to burn off nearly 300 barrels more than its top capacity, the company does not expect it to ramp up much more.

"That doesn't mean we have loads more to go," he said. "It's performing at capacity."

(Via Reuters)