BP plans to burn some oil pumping up to the surface in Gulf

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Now that crews are collecting more and more oil from the sea-bottom spill, the question is where to put it.

How about burning it?

Equipment collecting the oil and bringing it to the surface is believed to be nearing its daily processing capacity. A floating platform could be the solution to process most of the flow, BP said.

To burn it, the British oil giant is preparing to use a device called an EverGreen Burner, officials said. It turns a flow of oil and gas into a vapor that is pushed out its 12 nozzles and burned without creating visible smoke.

Methods for gathering and disposing of the oil collected from the seafloor gusher are becoming clearer. What's not is how much oil is eluding capture.

Scientists on a team analyzing the flow said Tuesday that the amount of crude still spewing into the Gulf of Mexico might be considerably greater than what the government and company have claimed.

Their assertions — combined with BP's rush to build a bigger cap and its apparent difficulty in immediately processing all the oil being collected — have only added to the impression that BP is still floundering in dealing with the catastrophe.