BP Defensive Over 'Trickle' Comment, Undersea Plumes

(June 9) -- A BP executive was on the defensive today over his comment that the flow of leaking oil would soon be slowed to "a relative trickle" and the company's denial of the existence of undersea oil plumes.

The company's chief operating officer, Doug Suttles, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the leak would be decreased to a trickle by Monday or Tuesday. BP clarified his statement, saying that it hoped to make more progress in the next week but that reducing the flow to a trickle would take more time.

With anger growing toward BP over the nation's worst oil spill, Suttles was asked on today's morning talk shows about his upbeat remark.

"What we're trying to get to is where we capture the vast majority," he said on CBS' "The Early Show." "This containment system will never capture every drop, but it should be able to capture the vast majority."

Suttles said the containment cap installed last week on the leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico recovered about 15,000 barrels, or 630,000 gallons, of oil in the last day. "So that's two days in a row at that level," he said. BP is planning to add another system early next week that BP thinks can capture another 5,000 to 10,000 barrels, or 210,000 to 420,000 gallons, a day, he said.

"We believe that should give us the capacity to capture the vast majority of this flow," he said on NBC's "Today" show.

BP acknowledges that it doesn't know exactly how much oil has been escaping daily since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20 and began spilling oil, though the government estimates that it's around 600,000 to 1.2 million gallons per day. If that estimate is right, it would mean the cap has collected a little more than half of the escaping oil over the last two days.

Researchers and government officials that make up a team run by the head of the U.S. Geological Survey are studying the leak and expect to present their conclusions in the next few days. A member of that team, Purdue University engineering professor Steve Wereley, told the AP it was a "reasonable conclusion" to believe that the daily flow rate is between 798,000 and 1.8 million gallons per day, though that is not a final estimate.

"BP is claiming they're capturing the majority of the flow, which I think is going to be proven wrong in short order," Wereley told the AP. "Why don't they show the American public the before-and-after shots?

"It's strictly an estimation, and they are portraying it as fact," he said.

Suttles also reasserted BP's claim that there are no undersea plumes of oil, a day after government officials confirmed plumes in low concentrations. A government official said Tuesday that tests conducted by a University of South Florida research vessel at three sites found oil as deep as 3,300 feet below the surface, some 42 miles northeast of the well.

Suttles was asked if BP was wrong. "We haven't found any large concentration of oil under the sea," he said.

He told NBC that oil has been found in "very minute quantities," adding, "It may be down to how you define what a plume is here."

Meanwhile, BP is preparing to burn some of the recovered materials with an EverGreen Burner, which turns oil and gas into a vapor that is burned without visible smoke. BP spokeswoman Heidi Feick said the process of burning gas should begin next week.

Also, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen wrote BP CEO Tony Hayward about the mounting claims filed against BP ahead of a meeting on the matter today. In a letter Tuesday, Allen asked for more information on the claims process and said he will discuss delays in processing large claims, unpaid claims and other issues.

"The federal government and the public expects BP's claims process to fully address the needs of impacted individuals and businesses," Allen wrote. "We need more detail and openness from BP to fulfill our oversight responsibilities to the American people and ensure you are meeting your commitment to restore the Gulf Coast."

The letter comes as Alabama Gov. Bob Riley called in National Guardsmen to help get the word out to coastal residents that they can apply for compensation. Out of 17,000 condos in the region, only 28 people had applied for lost rental income, he said Tuesday.

Suttles said he believed about half of all filed claims had been paid. He said on CBS the company has "tried to get money into people's hands quickly." And he endorsed Riley's National Guard plan, calling it "an excellent idea."