国际英语新闻：BP's second oil-containment system in operation

HOUSTON, June 16 (Xinhua) -- BP's second oil-containment system began operation Wednesday, while the company's chairman agreed to suspend quarterly dividends and put 20 billion U.S. dollars into a third-party claim fund.

The London-based energy giant said in a press release Wednesday that oil and gas are flowing through a second containment system attached to the failed blow out preventer (BOP) on a blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico.

This second system supplements the lower marine riser package (LMRP) cap containment system, which was installed early June and remains in operation, BP said.

Oil and gas continue to leak at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, in this image captured from a BP live video feed, June 15, 2010.

The new system is connected directly to the BOP and carries oil and gas through a manifold and hoses to the Q4000 vessel on the surface. The vessel uses a specialised burner device to flare oil and gas captured by this second system, the company said.

Oil and gas collected from the underwater gusher reached the Q4000 at approximately 1:00 a.m. Wednesday. Operations continue to stabilise and optimise the performance of the second containment system. BP said.

BP said earlier the new burner device operational with the second containment system could flare 210,000 gallons to 420,000 gallons of crude daily once it reaches maximum capacity.