Quest continues to fully contain gusher in Gulf

NEW ORLEANS - BP plans to bring in an oil-burning device and a tanker from the North Sea as it tries to contain the crude spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, a disaster creating headaches for people who make money off the sea and those processing their claims of financial loss.

The current containment system is catching 630,000 gallons of oil daily, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said at a news briefing in Washington. That figure had previously been cited as the system's general capacity, but Allen said officials now believe it can handle 756,000 gallons.

Even so, there's still more oil eluding capture. BP is bringing in a second vessel that will increase capacity, as well as the North Sea shuttle tanker, which will assist in the transport of the oil, and a device that will burn off some of it. The company previously said it plans to switch out the current containment cap with a slightly larger one that will seal better and trap more oil.

The government is keeping an eye on how BP is reimbursing people for their losses. Allen has written to BP chief executive Tony Hayward, demanding "more detail and openness" about how the company is handling mounting damage claims.

BP's stock price plunged yesterday as jittery investors feared the economic toll of the crisis would eat away at the company's dividend. And Allen has noted that "working claims is not something that's part of BP's organizational competence."

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar promised a Senate energy panel in testimony yesterday that he would ask BP to compensate energy companies for losses if they have to lay off workers or suffer economically because of the six-month moratorium on deep-water drilling imposed by the Obama administration.

The government has estimated that around 600,000 to 1.2 million gallons are leaking per day, but a scientist on a task force studying the matter said Tuesday that his group may determine the daily rate is, in fact, somewhere between 798,000 gallons and 1.8 million gallons.

That means an amount of oil equivalent to two Olympic-size swimming pools might still be escaping daily into the open sea.