Tropical Storm Alex No Longer Headed For Oil Spill

NEW ORLEANS (Dow Jones)--BP PLC and federal responders look to have dodged Tropical Storm Alex, which is on course to make landfall far to the west of the leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. Alex is currently crossing over the Yucatan Peninsula, but is expected to cross into the southwest Gulf of Mexico this week before making landfall again along Mexico's coast, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm could reach land as far north as Corpus Christi, Texas. Alex's winds top out at 40 miles per hour, but are expected to strengthen to as high as 100 miles per hour -- a Category 2 hurricane -- on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm's projected path keeps gale-force winds far to the west of the oil spill, which is spreading from a leaking underwater well 50 miles southeast of the Louisiana coastline. U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said Saturday that the area would need to begin evacuations five days before forecasts put a major storm in the area, potentially disrupting the work of more than 38,000 responders and 6,000 vessels involved in containing and cleaning the spill. An evacuation would interrupt the collection of oil from the leak for 14 days, Allen said. BP recovered 22,750 barrels of oil onto two rigs on Saturday, the company said Sunday, though federal and independent estimates put the scale of the leak between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels a day. A third rig is being moved to the site, which is expected to boost BP's daily collection rate to 53,000 barrels a day, Allen said. After that, federal officials will decide whether to set aside BP's containment cap in favor of other options that could collect up to 80,000 barrels a day from the well, Allen said. BP is also drilling two relief wells that the company has said should cut off the flow of oil into the Gulf in August. One well has reached a depth of 16,275 feet, just 1,725 feet short of its target depth, BP said on Saturday. The second well has reached a depth of 10,500 feet. Both wells are expected to be completed in August, three months after drilling began. -By Brian Baskin, Dow Jones Newswires; brian.baskin@dowjones.com; (212) 416-2453 (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 27, 2010 10:54 ET (14:54 GMT)