A containment cap is capturing some of the crude pouring from a damaged oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, but government officials warn that the leak could stretch through the summer and into the fall. Official Thad Allen says the cap will trap only so much of the oil, and relief wells being drilled won’t be completed until August. In the meantime, oil will continue to spew out.
“But even after that, there will be oil out there for months to come. It’s not clear how much is still escaping but authorities estimate between 500,000 gallons and 1 million gallons a day. Since the spill began nearly seven weeks ago, roughly 23 million to 49 million gallons of oil have leaked into the Gulf.
