BP exec says latest containment effort may be 2-5 more days, no promises on when oil stops

BP: Latest containment effort may be 2-5 more days

HOUSTON — A BP executive is stopping short of promising that oil will stop flowing into the Gulf of Mexico if a new, tighter cap is successfully installed on the busted well this week.

Senior vice president Kent Wells said Sunday it could be two to five more days before the cap is in place and a new vessel starts collecting oil and gets fully ramped up.

Wells was asked during a conference call if the new cap and collection efforts would end the spilling of oil into the Gulf. He said only that BP will capture all the oil “at some point.”

To do that, Wells said BP may have to bring another vessel back online and add additional collection capacity in order to stop the oil flow altogether.