BP Plc plans to devote its full attention to cleaning up after the ill-fated well rupture in the Gulf of Mexico and was not thinking about pumping oil from the location once it is finally sealed off, a BP spokesman said Friday, dpa reported.
Daren Beaudo was reacting to reports that BP had not excluded the possibility that it would one day tap into the deepwater well.
Doug Suttles, a top vice president for exploration, reportedly suggested earlier in the day that there was massive oil and gas still trapped 4,000 metres under the ocean floor and one should some day think about what to do with it.
That comment contradicted pledges made months ago by BP that it would never seek to mine the well that has been disastrous for the ecology and economy of the Gulf Coast.
"We are completely focussed on the kill, on the shoreline impacts, the cleaning and the economic recovery," Beaudo told The German Press Agency dpa.
"We are not contemplating what future production might occur from this reservoir," he said.
On Thursday, BP completed its cementing job on the well that had gushed oil for three months into the Gulf of Mexico. Five hundred barrels of cement were used, BP said Friday.
Closing off the ruptured wellhead is only the first step towards permanent shut-down. BP must also still complete the parallel relief as a conduit for another dose of cement into the bottom of the well.