GRAND ISLE, La.— BP said Thursday that it plans to boost its ability to directly capture hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil gushing from a well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico by early next week.
Kent Wells, BP's senior vice president of exploration and production, said a semi-submersible drilling rig would capture and burn about 420,000 gallons of oil daily. Once on board, the oil and gas collected from the well would be sent down a boom and burned at sea.
A drill ship already at the scene can process a maximum of 756,000 gallons of oil daily that's sucked up through a containment cap sitting on the well head.
