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SV PAN Oil fire being sprayed by boat (2 shots)
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GTV ZOOM INTO CU Fire
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GV AERIAL PAN Nearby oil rig with fire in background
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TV AERIAL PAN Fire being sprayed from floating barge
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GV PAN Floating barge hosing down flames
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Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: In the Gulf of Mexico, experts are making final preparations to cap an offshore oil well which burst and caught fire on June third. The stricken well has been spewing out more than 30-thousand barrels of oil a day.

SYNOPSIS: Although the main safety valve was successfully shut off on June 24 new leaks appeared almost immediately. To prevent an explosion in the well, located 80 kilometres northwest of the Port of Ciudad del Carmen, experts again it the surface oil to burns off as much as possible.

Surely a spectacular sight but one which will not be seen after September if plans to cap it finally work. This time the Director-General of the company that owns the well, Pemex, plans to take personal control but he has admitted there is no assurance of success.

Pemex sources predict that if the second attempt fails, work will concentrate on drilling two new wells to divert the oil flow so it could be pumped into waiting tanker ships. By the time work is completed the damaged well will have belched out more than two point five million barrels of crude oil into the sea. An expensive waste in an energy conscious world.