BP has reported that it is quite happy with the early progress it has made to install a brand spanking new containment cap on the faulty well in the Gulf Of Mexico on Sunday, as the oil flow seems to have temporarily let up.

They have stated that they will continue to increase the amount of oil they can collect on a daily basis, and are eagerly awaiting the Helix Producer skimmer to join in the cleanup sometime soon. This comes straight from Kent Wells, one of the senior vice presidents of BP, during their technical briefing on Sunday.

The cap, which was placed in early June, was removed from the leaky well this past Saturday by robotic submarines. BP is hopeful that the entire process of recapping the well will be done in the next four to seven days.

Wells expounded, “We tried to work out as many of the bugs as we can. I think the challenge will come with something unexpected. We are pleased with our process.” Quite a bold statement since from the very beginning they were not living up to their promises.

Near the source of the spill, 46 skimmers managed to collect more than 20,000 barrels of oily water on Saturday. However, BP also has conducted 15 controlled burns, but is hopeful to have two more skimmers at its disposal soon.

The oil is only being cleaned up by the Q4000 at the moment, and it only has a capacity of 378,000 gallons. It is hoped that it will be joined by the Helix Producer by Sunday, which has more than double that capacity.

This means that BP is finally making some headway on this horrific disaster, but they are not out of the woods yet. They still need to fix up the well, so that they may put on “Top Hat 10” the new cap for the well. Once they have “Top Hat 10” mounted into place, they will use special equipment to finally seal off the well.

According to the AP, this special equipment weighs in at around 150,000 pounds, and not only will it seal off the leak for good, but it is supposed to also provide connections for new skimmers on the surface to help clean up the remaining oil spill.

The best hope for finally being done with the whole mess comes from two relief wells. These wells are supposed to be fully operational by the middle of August. These relief wells are being put in so that they can inject cement and mud into the leaking well to stop the flow of oil.

Current estimates are that somewhere between 1.5 million and 2.5 million gallons of oil a day are gushing from the leaking well. The existing cap is only collecting about 1 million gallons a day. The new cap and skimmer are supposedly going to be able to mop up between 2.5 million and 3.4 million gallons a day, which would certainly come as a welcome reprieve from this horrific spill.