By Kristen Hays
Houston - It will take BP three days to hook up a third collection vessel that will double its oil-syphoning capacity at the gushing Gulf of Mexico leak, the United States official overseeing the spill clean-up said on Wednesday.
Retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said a relief well that is expected to plug the blown-out Macondo well is ahead of schedule and 4.6m from the side of the stricken wellbore.
Hookup of the vessel, a rig called the Helix Producer, has been hampered by six-foot waves, Allen said. It is partially hooked up, but will need calmer seas before BP can finish the job, he said.
The rig's addition to a drillship and another rig already syphoning oil will increase crude-handling capacity to 53 000 barrels a day from the current 28 000 barrels a day.
Allen also stuck to the mid-August target date for a relief well to intercept the Macondo well and plug the leak. - Reuters