BP's LMRP Cap Slowly Ramps Up Recovered Oil Volume

Update 5June: BP now says that the LMRP cap is collecting about 6,000 barrels per day -- roughly one fourth to one half of the oil gush. Oil is still spilling around the lower skirts of the LMRP cap, and through the vents in the top of the cap. The LRMP is capable of recovering up to 15,000 barrels per day maximum. Any oil spilling beyond that figure will have to be recovered via other methods.

CBS
BP says that the LMRP cap is well-placed over the gushing riser stub at the Macondo oil well bore, and is now recovering roughly 1,000 barrels per day. BP plans to slowly ramp up the volume of oil and gas recovered over the next few days.

A cap fitted over a ruptured Gulf of Mexico wellhead is capturing roughly 1,000 barrels of oil a day, a top US official said Friday.
Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the official in charge of the US government response to the spill, said the figure was a "rough total" of the amount being collected since remote-controlled submarines fitted the device late Thursday.
The current flow of oil gushing from the leak is estimated at between 12,000 and 19,000 barrels a day, so the amount is still small, Allen acknowledged Friday morning.
"Production is slowly moving up. It's around 1,000 barrels a day right now," said Allen. Workers are "slowly closing the vents and increasing the flow of oil." _AFP-Yahoo

More from BP's Kent Wells:

"Things are going as planned," said BP senior vice president Kent Wells. "We now have 12 hours of experience with this. It’s never been done at 5,000 feet before, but I am quite encouraged."

BP is slowly ramping up the volume of oil and gas going up four valves, which are like chimneys, on the lower marine riser package (LMRP) cap. The process allows the flow to go through as it’s ready to bring oil to the ship.

"Over next couple day we’ll continue to increase amount of oil and gas coming up," Wells said. _CBS

The reason for the caution in dealing with the upward flow of oil and gas, is that the combination is highly explosive and flammable. If BP is not careful to maintain complete control over the increasing volumes of oil and gas, another disaster could occur at the recovery ship, Enterprise.

The image at top shows both the ongoing LMRP cap recovery operation, and the planned "top kill manifold" recovery method, to be initiated near the mid-point of June 2010.