BP's latest attempt to contain the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill has registered a first success by capturing 10,000 barrels of oil in 24 hours.
But the amount is less than the estimated 19,000 barrels a day that could be spewing from the leaking well.
"As we speak, the containment cap is producing around 10,000 barrels of oil a day to the surface," BP's chief executive Tony Hayward was reported as saying.
He added that the amount was "probably the vast majority".
The latest containment effort involves a cap placed over the leak that gathers the oil, allowing it to be siphoned up via a pipe to a container ship.
It is a modified version of an effort tried earlier in BP's six-week effort to stem the crude gushing from a ruptured underwater pipe after the Deepwater Horizon rig it leased exploded before sinking into the sea on April 22.
BP oil spill
Residents in Louisiana are furious with BP
The earlier attempt failed because cold temperatures and high pressure at the leak site, some 5,000 metres down, caused the oil to form a sludge that could not be siphoned.
BP has said it will provide daily updates on how much oil is being captured by the containment device.
News of any successful effort to contain the disastrous spill will be welcomed by the four states so far affected by what is now the worst environmental disaster in US history.
On Saturday US President Barack Obama pledged in his weekly radio address to use "every resource" to help those affected.
"We will continue to leverage every resource at our disposal to protect coastlines, to clean up the oil, to hold BP and other companies accountable for damages," he said.
An estimated 20 million gallons of crude has poured into the Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon sank in April, 50 miles off Louisiana.
But the amount is less than the estimated 19,000 barrels a day that could be spewing from the leaking well.
"As we speak, the containment cap is producing around 10,000 barrels of oil a day to the surface," BP's chief executive Tony Hayward was reported as saying.
He added that the amount was "probably the vast majority".
The latest containment effort involves a cap placed over the leak that gathers the oil, allowing it to be siphoned up via a pipe to a container ship.
It is a modified version of an effort tried earlier in BP's six-week effort to stem the crude gushing from a ruptured underwater pipe after the Deepwater Horizon rig it leased exploded before sinking into the sea on April 22.
BP oil spill
Residents in Louisiana are furious with BP
The earlier attempt failed because cold temperatures and high pressure at the leak site, some 5,000 metres down, caused the oil to form a sludge that could not be siphoned.
BP has said it will provide daily updates on how much oil is being captured by the containment device.
News of any successful effort to contain the disastrous spill will be welcomed by the four states so far affected by what is now the worst environmental disaster in US history.
On Saturday US President Barack Obama pledged in his weekly radio address to use "every resource" to help those affected.
"We will continue to leverage every resource at our disposal to protect coastlines, to clean up the oil, to hold BP and other companies accountable for damages," he said.
An estimated 20 million gallons of crude has poured into the Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon sank in April, 50 miles off Louisiana.
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