The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is 75 per cent clear and BP says its ‘static kill’ program has been a success.

The
US government admitted that most of the oil that has been spilling into
the Gulf has already evaporated, dispersed, or been captured or
eliminated.

BP says its “static kill” technique, in which
drilling mud was used to push oil from the runaway well back into the
reservoir, has been a success.

A new report has shown that the
worst of the oil spill is now gone. White House energy adviser Carol
Browner said that the remaining oil is so diluted it poses little risk
of harm.

Although 26 per pent of the leaked crude is still in
the water or on the coast, where it endangers birds and wildlife, the
oil is rapidly breaking down. This comes as a great relief to
conservationists.

However, Jane Lubchenco, head of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the lead agency in producing
the new report told the New York Times: “”I think we don’t know yet the
full impact of this spill on the ecosystem or the people of the gulf.”

The new assessment of the Gulf oil spill was done by US federal scientists to work out where the leaked oil has gone.

The Gulf oil spill report found that:

  • 25 per cent of the chemicals in the oil evaporated at the surface or dissolved into seawater.
  • At least 5 per cent was burned on the surface, 3 per cent was skimmed and 8 per cent was broken down by dispersants.
  • Another 16 per cent dispersed naturally.

BP said that the static kill procedure was “a major achievement that we’re all extremely pleased about.”

The
next step will be to seal the well for good by cementing it shut, but
BP has stressed that the only permanent solution to the oil spill is a
relief well, which will be completed by the middle of this month.

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Tags: oil spill, oil leak, BP oil spill, Gulf oil spill, Static Kill