[John O]

The question I have about this is "Since they have it capped, why not just put it into production and pump it out?"

Seems that getting the oil out of this tap would be a whole lot easier than drilling a whole new well. Or is that too sensible for the obama regime?

[Yo-Yo]

The question I have about this is "Since they have it capped, why not just put it into production and pump it out?"

I believe the answer has two reasons why they cannot put the well into production.

1) The integrity of the well casing over the long term is still very much in doubt.

2) The Blowout Preventor is damaged and would have to be replaced before the well could go into production, and to remove it means gushing oil again. Also, once the BOP is removed, the connecting flange to the well casing may have been damaged from the rig toppling, and it is possible that a new BOP couldn't be fitted.

The safest thing is to cement up this well and start over.

[Ingtar]

BP is the one that does not wish to pump from the cap. The Feds are pushing them to do this. Once a measured flow from the well can be established, the Feds can hit BP with a $4800/barrel fine for the duration of the spill. Someone claimed this would be another $20 billion over and above their current liability.