资料图:墨西哥湾漏油事件造成大量海生物死亡

　　Underwater robots have successfully removed a leaking cap on BP's blown-out Gulf of Mexico oil well, the first stage in fitting a tighter cap. However, many thousands of barrels of oil will now flow freely until the new cap is fitted, an operation that could take four to seven days. BP also said there was no guarantee of success at such a depth. A fleet of 400 skimmers is in place to try to minimise the effects of increased oil loss. 　　水下机器人已经成功移除英国石油公司在墨西哥湾石油油井泄漏处的控油罩，这是安装密闭性更强的控油罩的第一步。然而在新的控油罩安装完毕之前，尚有成千上万桶石油还会肆意涌出，而该项工程需要四到七天才能完成。英国石油公司同时表示，以这样的深度，并不一定能够保证成功。而将400个撇油器安装到位是为了尽量能够把日渐增加的泄漏石油所带来的恶果降到最低。 　　The company has two other operations ongoing. One will deploy a larger surface vessel to collect oil, the other is drilling two wells to intercept the leak, which it is hoped will provide a permanent solution. The larger ship, Helix Producer, could be in place to collect leaking oil as early as Sunday. BP says the first of the relief wells will be finished in the first half of August. The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig in April killed 11 people. President Barack Obama has called the leak the biggest environmental disaster in US history.

　　目前有两项措施正在进行中，其一是部署一个更大的水面舰艇收集石油，另一个则是希望寻求一个永久性的解决方案——钻探两口拦截泄漏的油井。较大的一条船——螺旋生产者，将最早在周日就位收集泄漏石油。英国石油公司表示，救灾第一井将在8月上旬完工。“深水地平线”钻井平台四月发生爆炸，造成十一人死亡。美国总统奥巴马将该事件视为美国历史上最大的环境灾难。

资料图:墨西哥湾漏油事件造成大量海生物死亡

　　BP's submersible robots removed the current containment cap from the ocean floor at 17:37GMT on Saturday (July 10) but it will be several days at best before the new cap is in place. A fleet of 400 skimmers is in place to try to minimise the effects of increased oil loss during the operation, BP said. 　　英国石油公司的潜水机器人在格林威治标准时间周六(即7月10日)移除现在使用的围堵井盖，但是新井盖就位尚需数天。英国石油公司表示，安装到位的400个撇油器是为了尽量能够把日渐增加的泄漏石油所带来的恶果降到最低。 　　'It's not just going to be, you put the cap on, it's done. It's not like putting a cap on a tube of toothpaste, ' Coast Guard spokesman Capt James McPherson warned. 　　“这绝对不是你把盖子盖上，一切便大功告成。它并不会像牙膏拧上盖子那么简单。”海岸警卫队发言人上尉詹姆斯?麦克弗森发表如是声明。 　　The new sealing cap - similar to a smaller version of the damaged blow-out preventer - has three devices that are designed to shut the flow. According to BP, the new cap 'creates the potential to increase oil and gas containment capacity to greater than 50,000 barrels per day and should improve containment efficiency during hurricane season by allowing shorter disconnect and reconnect times'.

　　新的密封帽类似一个较小版本的损坏井喷防护装置，有三个旨在关闭流量的装置。据英国石油公司称，新的密封帽“有可能将石油和天然气的遏制能力增加至每天超过50，000桶，并且通过缩短断开和重新连接的时间，从而在飓风季节提高遏制效率。”

资料图:生物的生存环境岌岌可危

　　The company said that 'there can be no assurance that the sealing cap will be successfully installed or installed within the anticipated timeframe', given it has never been attempted at this depth before.

　　英国石油公司声明，由于从未有过在该深度安装的尝试，因此，“无法保证密封控油罩能够成功安装，或者无法保证其能够在预期时间内安装完毕。” 　　Experts say that the new cap will have to withstand enormous pressure. If the pressure becomes too great, another part of the well could rupture. BP said that contingency caps were at the ready on the seabed should the replacement operation fail. Meanwhile BP says its Q4000 containment dome is still in operation and continues to capture leaking oil. 　　专家称新的控油罩将必须能够承受巨大压力。如果压力过大，油井的另一端则很有可能开裂。 　　英国石油公司称备用控油罩已在海底准备待续，以便在出现故障时随时替换。同时，该公司表示，Q4000控油圆顶仍然在运行中并继续收集漏油。 　　The Helix Producer is being brought in place and could be operational on Sunday (July 11). It has more than double the Q4000's capacity to capture leaking oil. The containment dome currently collects about half the amount of oil gushing out of the damaged well. 　　“螺旋生产者”已经安装到位，并将在周日（即7月11日）开始启用。它收集漏油的能力是Q4000的两倍。该控油圆顶目前收集了超过一半由已破坏的油井当中泄漏出的石油。 　　On Friday, the Coast Guard commander overseeing the response, Adm Thad Allen, said the flow of leaking oil could be contained by Monday (July 12). But in that time hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil could flow unabated into the ocean. 　　周五，海岸警卫队总指挥萨德?艾伦监察了其工作情况之后表示，漏油将会在周一（即7月12日）被控制住，但是这段时间内会有成千上万桶石油流进海洋。 　　'We have a significant chance to dramatically reduce the oil that's being released into the environment and maybe shut the well in altogether in the next week,' he said.'I use the word 'contained', ' said Adm Allen. ''Stop' is when we put the plug in down below. ' Current US government estimates of the spill range from between 35,000 to 60,000 barrels a day. 　　“我们有一个可以显著减少石油泄漏出来的重大机会，也许我们会在下一周关闭掉所有的油井。”他说，“我用了‘控制’这个词，”艾伦说，“‘停止’是当我们在下面安装了塞子。”日前，美国政府估计每天泄漏的原油量在35,000到60,000桶之间。 　　'On Thursday (July 8) BP said its operation to drill a new relief well to stop the Deepwater Horizon leak was ahead of schedule. 　　周四（7月8日），英国石油公司表示，他们为了停止“深水地平线”继续漏油而打钻的一口新的减压油井将提前完成。 　　BP's bill so far has been more than $3.1bn - and it has agreed to set up a $20bn fund to deal with compensation claims and clean-up costs.

　　目前，英国石油公司的花费已经超过三十一亿元，并且同意建立一项超过两百亿元的赔偿基金，以处理索赔和清理费用。

资料图:生物的生存环境岌岌可危

　　BP oil spill costs pass $3bn mark 　　BP石油泄漏花费超30亿 　　The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has so far cost BP a total of $3.12bn (?2bn), the company has said. The total includes the cost of containing the spill and cleaning up the oil, and the cost of drilling relief wells. It also includes the $147m paid out in compensation to some of those affected by the spill. But BP again warned that the total cost of the spill is likely to be much higher. The cost is already significantly higher than the $2.65bn cost reported a week ago. BP said there were now 44,500 people working on the spill response - nearly 5,000 more than a week ago. 　　根据来自英国石油公司方面的消息，为处理墨西哥湾石油泄漏事件，该公司花费已逾三十一亿两千万美元，其中包括收集、清理漏油、打钻减压油井，以及向被漏油事件所影响的居民支付一亿四千七百万补偿金。但是该公司同时表示该事件需要支付的花费将远高于这个数字。而这个数字已经大大超过了一周前报道的二十六亿五千万美元。该公司称目前有四万四千五百名员工正为处理该事件努力——比上周增加五千名。 　　But the company also confirmed that efforts to collect oil from the surface of the water had been temporarily placed on hold due to Hurricane Alex, which is currently passing through the region. Oil is continuing to leak into the Gulf of Mexico following the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in April. BP said two relief wells being drilled to stop the leak are still on course for completion by August.

　　英国石油公司同时确认因飓风“Alex”目前正要刮过该区域，从海面收集漏油的工作只能暂时停止。自从今年四月“深水地平线”钻井平台发生爆炸之后，原油就在源源不断地流向墨西哥湾。而该公司表示，为阻止石油继续泄漏而打钻两个减压井的工程目前正在进行中，并将在8月完工。

资料图:墨西哥湾漏油

　　Shares in BP rose more than 2% at the beginning of trading in London. They remain at around half their value before the disaster, however.Investors remain uncertain over the eventual financial impact of the oil disaster, with estimates from analysts putting the final bill in the tens of billions. Meanwhile the collapse in the share price has lead to speculation that BP may become a takeover target.

　　英国石油公司股票在伦敦开始交易时已有2%上涨。然而，目前的价值大致只是这场灾难发生之前的一半。投资者目前仍然无法预计本次石油灾难将会在金融方面造成多大的影响，分析师预计，该公司最终将投入数百亿美元“埋单”。同时，因股价的崩盘，有推测称英国石油公司可能会沦为收购对象。 　　Recently, investment bank JP Morgan Cazenove suggested oil giant Exxon Mobil as a possible buyer, while Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell has also been mentioned. But analysts also suggest a potential role for state-backed oil companies such as China's PetroChina or Kuwait Oil.Media reports in the United Arab Emirates also indicate that Middle Eastern investors are considering buying stakes in BP. The National newspaper, which is owned by the Abu Dhabi government, cited 'informed sources' saying that 'BP knows there is potential support from the Middle East'. A BP spokeswoman refused to comment directly on the reports. 'We welcome new shareholders and existing shareholders increasing their holding, but there are no current plans to issue new equity, ' she said.

　　投资银行JP摩根嘉诚近日称，石油巨头埃克森美孚可能会成为潜在买家，而在此之前，英荷石油巨头壳牌公司也曾被提到过。分析家认为，有国家支持的石油公司，比如中国的中石油或者科威特石油公司也都是潜在的买家。阿拉伯联合酋长国的媒体报道称，中东投资者正在考虑收购英国石油公司的股份。阿布扎比政府全资拥有的全国性报纸援引“消息灵通人士”提供的讯息说“英国石油公司知道有来自中东的潜在支持”。但英国石油公司的一名新闻发言人拒绝对此发表任何评论，她说：“我们欢迎新股东的加入，也欢迎现有股东增加控股，但我们目前没有计划发行新的股票。”。