BP captures 6,000 barrels of oil from leaking well

As engineers monitor the oil flow through a containment cap, wildlife rescue efforts are stepped up in Louisiana.

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Reporting from New Orleans and Los Angeles — Efforts to contain the flood of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico showed signs of progress as a cap placed atop BP's blown-out well managed to capture 6,000 barrels of oil in its first 24 hours, officials announced Saturday.

No one knows exactly how much is still spewing from the well, although estimates by a government task force before the well was capped ranged between 12,000 and 25,000 barrels of oil daily.

The containment cap, the latest in a string of efforts to cope with the massive spill, is funneling oil and gas to a surface ship about a mile above the wellhead.

But engineers are allowing most of the oil to continue escaping through four vents in the cap because the force of the flow could burst the rubber gasket that holds the cap in place.

"They're making sure they don't increase the production rate until it is safe to do so," Coast Guard incident commander Adm. Thad Allen told reporters Saturday. "They're easing the pressure up to the vessel…so they can maintain control of the oil."

On Saturday afternoon, a BP spokesman said the company had no estimate as to when the vents would be closed. "Over the next few days we will be adjusting the cap to work as best as we can," Toby Odone said.

The amount of oil pumped to the surface could be constrained, given that the surface ship can receive only 15,000 barrels daily, Odone acknowledged.

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