Subscribe to Blog ContentBP CEO Tony Hayward plans to step down and take off for Russia where he will work on BP joint venture with TNK-BP. Should BP survive and remain in business, moving Hayward is the first step in helping BP start over in rebuilding the business.
Since the start of cleanup efforts, BP has worked on relief wells and they're almost finished. However, the cleanup effort may not need the relief wells thanks to "static kill," which plugs the well by pumping mud and cement at the well. To be on the safe side, BP continues drilling the relief wells.
On the good news front, reports indicate oil sheen from the April 20 explosion in the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill is almost gone. However, some say they still see some tar balls and oil patches. The 86-day oil leak finally stopped on July 15 when BP capped the well. Relief well efforts continue because the well is not permanently sealed.
Scientists believe the oil's dissolving fast may have occurred due to recent winds from two storms, the Gulf of Mexico's innate ability to break down oil and the cleanup efforts such as oil burning, use of dispersants and skimmers. Although good news for the animal life, the environment and beaches, no one knows what the long-term effects will be.
If the cleanup efforts slow down too fast, it would not only hurt the environment but also fishermen. So, the government and BP have to decide how to scale down cleanup without negative impacts.
Scaling back would affect the fishermen who have helped with cleanup, They may not be able to return to their livelihoods for an undetermined amount of time. Even though the oil slick is disappearing from the surface, the animals swim far below and it's not clear how much oil is underwater.
Almost 5 million barrels of oil -- about 170 million gallons — leaked according to the Coast Guard. This surpasses the 10.8 gallons spilled from 1989 Exxon Valdez. Cleanup efforts have deployed 3.4 million feet of boom and used 1 million gallons of dispersant.
The moratorium on deep-water drilling by the U.S. government remains in effect until November. Because of this, BP says it plans to open a $100 million fund to help gulf oil and gas workers who have lost their jobs due to the spill.
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