BP Group

The pressure inside the well recently has been measured at approximately  6,792 pounds per square inch and continues to rise slowly. As directed by the  National Incident Commander, extensive monitoring activities are being carried  out around the well site. Information gathered during the test is being reviewed  with the government agencies, including the Federal Science Team, to determine  next steps. Depending upon the results of the test and monitoring activities,  these steps may include extending the well integrity test or returning to  containment options.

Should the test conclude, the Q4000 is expected to resume capturing and  flaring oil and gas through the existing system. It has been capturing and  flaring an average of 8,000 barrels a day (b/d) of oil in recent weeks. The  Helix Producer also is expected to be available to resume capturing oil and  flaring gas through the recently installed floating riser system. It has the  capacity to capture approximately 20,000 - 25,000 b/d of oil.

Plans continue for additional containment capacity and flexibility that are  expected to ultimately increase recoverable oil volumes to 60,000-80,000 b/d.

The sealing cap system and many of the other containment systems have never  before been deployed at these depths or under these conditions, and their  efficiency and ability to contain or flare the oil and gas cannot be assured.

To date, the total volume of oil collected or flared by the containment  systems is approximately 826,800 barrels. Information on the subsea operational  status is updated daily on BP's website, www.bp.com.

Work on the first relief well, which started May 2, continues. The well  reached a depth of 17,864 feet as of July 18th and the next scheduled operation  is to carry out a ranging run. The first relief well has approached its last  casing end point and, following the casing set, additional ranging runs will be  used to guide the drill bit to a MC252 well intercept point. After interception,  operations are expected to begin to kill the flow of oil and gas from the  reservoir by pumping specialized heavy fluids down the relief well.

The second relief well, which started May 16, is at a measured depth of  15,874 feet and has been temporarily halted so as not to interfere with the  ranging runs being performed in the first relief well.

Although uncertainty remains, the first half of August remains the current  estimate of the most likely date by which the first relief well will be  completed and kill operations performed.

Surface Spill Response as of July 17
Work continues to collect and  disperse oil that has reached the surface of the sea, to protect the shoreline  of the Gulf of Mexico, and to collect and clean up any oil that has reached  shore.

Approximately 43,100 personnel, more than 6,470 vessels and dozens of  aircraft are engaged in the response effort.

Operations to skim oil continued over the weekend. These operations have  recovered, in total, approximately 807,143 barrels (33.9 million gallons) of  oily liquid. In addition, a total of 408 controlled burns have been carried out  to date, removing an estimated 261,904 barrels of oil (11 million gallons) from  the sea's surface.

The total length of containment boom deployed as part of efforts to prevent  oil from reaching the coast is now almost 3.36 million feet (681.8 miles).

Additional information
To date, almost 116,000 claims have been  submitted and more than 67,500 payments have been made, totalling $207 million.

The cost of the response to date amounts to approximately $3.95 billion,  including the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling,  grants to the Gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs. On June 16, BP  announced an agreed package of measures, including the creation of a $20 billion  fund to satisfy certain obligations arising from the oil and gas spill. It is  too early to quantify other potential costs and liabilities associated with the  incident.

Further information
BP Press Office London: +44 20 7496 4076
BP  Press office, US: +1 281 366 0265
http://www.bp.com/gulfofmexicoresponse