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Here are some of the advances in the control of  BP oil spill in Gulf of Mexico:

• Under the direction of the federal government, BP continues to capture some oil and burn gas at the surface using its containment dome technique, to optimize oil recovery from its leaking well.
• Progress continues in drilling relief wells.
• BP continues the “ranging” process which involves periodically withdrawing the drill pipe and sending an electrical signal down to determine how close they are getting to the wellbore.
• NOAA-supported scientists predict increase in area containing depleted oxygen levels: the northern Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone, an underwater area with little or no oxygen known commonly as the “dead zone,” could be larger than the recent average by 500-1,800 square miles.
• NOAA expands fishing restriction in the gulf: The closed area now represents 80,228 square miles—approximately 33.2 percent—of federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico. This closure does not apply to any state waters. This leaves more than 66 percent of Gulf federal waters available for fishing.
• The United States accept offers from a dozen countries and international agencies to help contain and clean up the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
• The U.S. Government has named BP as the responsible party, and officials have committed to hold the company accountable for all cleanup costs and other damage.
• As of June 28th, BP had successfully removed 28,000,000 US gallons (890,000 US bbl) of oily liquid and burned about 9,900,000 US gallons (314,000 US bbl) of oil.

Tropical Storm “Alex”

The oil–spill cleanup may be delayed by The Tropical Storm Alex. BP Plc’s efforts to contain the largest oil spill in U.S. history were disrupted as Tropical Storm Alex strengthened in the Gulf of Mexico. The high winds are preventing flights to spray dispersant chemicals on the oil slick, which is in the northern and eastern Gulf.

Nearly 39,000 people and more than 6,000 boats are working there, in other parts of the Gulf and on land to skim and corral the oil, protect hundreds of miles of coastline and clean fouled beaches.

Alex is expected to make landfall as a hurricane late Wednesday or early Thursday near the Texas-Mexico border, about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) from the Gulf oil spill. For now, this Tropical Storm is not expected to pass close the BP Plc.’s blown-out well off the Louisiana coast, but the storm ‘s path is being watched closely. However, drilling of an additional well to stop the gushing of the initial well is continuing and the relief well is scheduled to be completed in August.

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