Representatives for BP (NYSE:BP) said in a conference call with reporters that they could attempt to "top kill" the leaking oil well as soon as May 23.
Top kill is a term the oil industry uses in regard to sealing an oil well with cement and other drilling fluids.
The amount of oil the company is capturing form the pipeline about a mile long has improved, rising from 2,000 just a couple of days ago to close to 5,000 now, according to a spokesman for the company.
If the top kill attempt doesn't work, another option would be to drill two relief wells, which would intercept the oil well at about 13,000 feet below the ocean floor. That would result in the well being permanently plugged. The downside to that is it could take up to three months to accomplish.
The amount of oil leaking from the oil well on a daily basis is estimated to be around 5,000 barrels a day, based on estimates from the Coast Guard, NOAA and BP.
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