BP's relief well 'on target for August'

BP's oil relief well is on target to be in position for its August deadline, it has been reported.

Last week, the fuel giant announced that its efforts to contain the oil spill, which occurred as a result of a rig explosion on April 20th in the Gulf of Mexico, are going to plan.

A spokesperson for BP Bill Salvin said: "The layman's translation is, 'We are where we thought we were'."

The relief well, which has been created to intersect the one that blew up in the explosion, will help BP to plug the gap with cement in an attempt to stop oil spilling into the seabed.

Mr Salvin added that the relief well should be in position at 18,000 feet below the surface of the water by August 4th, having already reached a depth of 12,038 feet.

Meanwhile, BP is still employing other containment efforts to reduce the amount of oil leaking into the environment and has recovered 652,000 barrels of oil and carried out 275 controlled burns.

Posted by Joseph Hutton