BP (NYSE:BP) Tarnished Image Getting Some Shine

BP (NYSE:BP) took a big hit to its brand and image when the Gulf oil spill and the resultant media coverage erupted across the world.

That has slowly began to change now that they've stopped the oil from leaking into the Gulf, and a permanent plugging of the well near at hand.

Another factor was the relatively small effects of the oil spill on the Gulf. The media and the Obama administration had hyped the damage so much that once the oil well stopped flowing, the results surprised most people with about 75 percent of the oil already having been removed naturally by the Gulf itself, or to a much lesser extent, by skimming the waters with ships.

Approval ratings for BP are over double what they were when they stood at an anemic 15 percent, according to an AP poll, which shows 33 percent of people approve of the job BP has been doing.

BP's (NYSE:BP) Bob Dudley Says Time to Slash Cleanup Efforts

While it has been helpful to those who have lost work in the area because of the BP (NYSE:BP) oil spill, there simply isn't much oil left to removed from the Gulf of Mexico, and incoming CEO Bob Dudley said it's time to cut back on the cleanup efforts, while stressing the ongoing commitment of BP to make things right.

The reality of skimming boats, as far as that part of the oil cleanup, is historically, at best, it cleans about 2 percent of the oil spilled in an ocean. Most of the time it's less than that, so even when oil was spewing into the region, that was the case. Now that it's under control with the new containment cap, evaporation and oil-consuming microbes are rapidly removing the oil from the Gulf, and make the former size of the cleanup effort no longer no longer appropriate.

Dudley did reiterate the commitment of BP to cleaning up the effects of the spill, and will continue doing that till the job is completed.

Concerning the overall effects of the oil spill, Dudley said the politically correct statement that "Anyone who thinks this wasn't a catastrophe must be far away from it," not really addressing the realities of the oil rapidly subsiding in the region.

The emotional hype generated by mainstream media outlets to attract eyeballs has left the residue of unbelief concerning any positive news out of the Gulf oil spill.

There is also the want and need to extract as much money out of BP as possible while the public anger remains fixated on them. Even slowing down the cleanup operations has caused much fear and consternation among some politicians and residents, who simply don't listen to the facts and are still overheating on their emotions.

The fact is the reported damage from the oil leak have been overblown, and most of the coastlines of the Gulf haven't been touched by oil, or at most, very little.

So the amount of work to clean the Gulf has to be cut back based on that reality, and not the idea that there is some type of unmanageable amount of hidden oil lurking in the Gulf that crews must be ready to rescue us all from.

BP (NYSE:BP) Cuts Back on Skimming Boats in Gulf

BP (NYSE:BP) has shrunk the number of skimming boats used to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico by over 25 percent, the company said.

That's related to the stoppage of oil leaking into the Gulf with the new containment cap in place, which continues to work. There is less oil in the Gulf so less need for the number of boats they had been using in the oil cleanup.

At this time there is close to 1,600 boats continuing on in the cleanup efforts on a daily basis.

Matt Kissinger, who directs the boat skimming program, dubbed "vessels of opportunity," said there are about 600 less boats being used than last week.

First Skimmer from Kevin Costner Ready to Work BP (NYSE:BP) Oil Spill

It has been a while since we've heard anything about the oil separation device backed by actor Kevin Costner and purportedly an improved form of skimming oil escaping into the seas from the BP (NYSE:BP) oil spill.

The new system had to be integrated on a barge to work, and in a relatively short 10-day period has been put together, and the first one was sent out into the Gulf to do its work on Thursday.

Reiterating Costner's claims, Doug Suttles, chief operating officer of BP,
said it is an improvement over other skimmers in that it can operate in harsher weather, being able to withstand waves of up to 10 feet, whereas other skimmers can only operate in four feet, and results aren't that great under those conditions.

Suttles also said they remove more oil, which is obviously better for the environment, as they can eliminate a larger amount which could end up washing along shores or migrating via currents to places further away.

The fact that they work and will be a vast improvement over prior skimmers is great news, and makes you wonder how much better things would have been if they had been available from the beginning.

BP (NYSE:BP) Captures 25,198 Barrels Saturday

BP (NYSE:BP) reported is captured 25,198 barrels Saturday, including collecting and flaring the oil.

To date, the oil giant said they're captured 585,400 barrels of oil from the Gulf, again, including flaring or collecting.

At this time BP has two systems operating, with one vessel collecting oil and reselling it, and another flaring or burning the oil and gas.

A third vessel should soon be incorporated into their oil capture plans and roughly double the current capacity to over 50,000 barrels captured a day.

Concerning skimming oil from the surface of the Gulf, that has reached 673,497 barrels of oil removed from the ocean. Per controlled burns, they've also removed another 238,000 barrels of oil from the Gulf surface.

Giant Oil Skimmer Coming to Gulf - Largest in the World

An incredibly huge oil skimmer from Taiwan, named "A Whale," is headed to the Gulf in hopes it'll be able to be used in the oil cleanup.

The measurements of the vessel are extraordinary, being the equivalent of 3 1/2 lengths of a football field, and is 10 stories high. It is billed as the largest skimmer in the world, and I believe it.

Originally the ship was made to be a tanker, but when the Gulf oil spill happened, the founder and CEO of the company, Nobu Su, had it fitted to be a gigantic skimmer instead.

Estimates are it could remove up to 21 million gallons of oil a day from the soiled waters.

How it works is it employs 12 vents on each side of the bow of the ship, which suck in the water. From there it is separated from the water and sent to another vessel. The water is returned back to the sea.

Unfortunately this is all theory, as it hasn't been tested so far, and will need to prove it can do what it asserts before it is cleared.

Even though there will be trace amounts of oil left in the water after it is filtered, it is far cleaner than when it is brought into the ship. Even so, the EPA will have to give its approval before its use.

Assuming approval is given, then the Taiwanese ship owner will have to negotiate with BP concerning a price for its use. That shouldn't be a problem, as BP has shown willingness to pay for different technologies in order to help with the cleanup, as evidenced by the units ordered from actor Kevin Costner's company.

The ship was expected Wednesday, where the U.S. Coast Guard will then observe it to see how it workds and if it works as expected. The final say on the use of the vessel is in the hands of the Coast Guard.

BP (NYSE:BP) Halts Skimmers Ships on Bad Weather

Oil skimmers were stopped by BP (NYSE:BP) and sent to share as bad weather from Tropical Storm Alex sends strong winds and high waves to the oil spill region.

BP has stated the storm could hinder operations and keep their effort to install a third oil-capture system on hold, which would bring the amount of oil collected on a daily basis to over 50,000 barrels.

Waves have been as high as 12 feet in a number of places in the Gulf, along with 25 mph winds.

One of the managers of the skimming operations for BP, Wayne Hebert, said there is no way of knowing when the skimming work will resume, as it's completely dependent upon weather conditions.