BP launched a live webcam of the riser flow, part of its subsea efforts to stop the flow of oil from the well that was breached following the Deepwater Horizon explosion on April 20. BP has been providing a live feed to government entities over the last two weeks, including the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Coast Guard, and Minerals Management Service (MMS) through the Unified Area Command center in Louisiana, as well as to BP and industry scientists and engineers involved in the effort to stop the spill.

BP also continues its work to collect oil by the riser insertion tube tool (RITT) containment system. Once on the drillship Discoverer Enterprise, the oil is being stored and gas is being flared. The RITT remains a new technology and both its continued operation and its effectiveness in capturing the oil and gas remain uncertain, says BP.

BP and government agencies continue to work to determine the rate of flow from the well, which will help establish the effectiveness of the RITT and another remediation efforts. To provide further specificity on the flow rate, the U.S. government has created a Flow Rate Technical Team (FRTT) to develop a more precise estimate. The FRTT includes the US Coast Guard, NOAA, MMS, Department of Energy (DOE) and the US Geological Survey. The FRTT is mandated to produce a report by close of business on Saturday, May 22.

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