What Now for the Gulf Oil Gusher?

Before heading to his vacation in Maine, President Barack Obama called the success of the giant 83-ton cap on BP's Gulf oil gusher “good news.” If nothing goes wrong, the cap should be able to capture 80,000 barrels of oils a day. That’s up from 20,000 a day beforehand. But the president also warned that “there’s still a lot of oil out there and there’s a lot of work to do.”

“It’s important that we don’t get ahead of ourselves,” Mr. Obama said Friday. “One problem with having this camera down there is that once the oil stopped gushing everyone thinks we're done and we're not.” 

Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen has asked BP officials Friday to do more seismic monitoring of the well site to make sure there are no leaks. He also brought in a special NOAA research vessel Friday afternoon that can detect minute methane bubbles that may indicate oil or gas leaking from the seafloor.

Engineers are anxiously waiting for pressure in the cap to rise to 7,500 pounds per square inch, signaling that the well is secure. On Friday, it was at 6,700 psi and rising slowly.

In the big picture, a few questions remain:

How much oil has spilled?

The technical flow rate group -- a panel of experts headed by the chief of the U.S. Geological Survey -- estimates that 35,000 to 65,000 barrels per day are gushing into the Gulf. That would put the total somewhere between 126 million and 216 million gallons, compared to the 32 million gallons spilled by the Exxon Valdez and more than any other marine spill.

How long will it take now to clean it up, based on current retrieval rates?

So far, nobody in the federal cleanup effort is making any predictions. Experts say that much of that depends on the weather conditions, ocean currents and amount of human effort. Months for sure.

So far, skimmers have managed to scoop up 32 million gallons at a daily rate of about 100,000 gallons per day.

What's the cleanup plan from BP and the government right now?

President Obama said BP and the feds will stay until the oil is cleaned up and local residents and businesses have been compensated. For engineers, the next step is the relief well, which they hope will provide a permanent solution by cementing the well. BP estimates that will be ready in early August.

SEE ALSO: Find out how the two wells work here.

How about the money?

BP said Friday that is has paid out $200 million, but there are still lots of complaints.

Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon told the Associated Press he was relieved about the well cap, but that much of the damage has already been done.

"The other side is they're not paying claims and I'm watching people moving away, people losing their jobs, everything they've got. How can I be that happy when that's happening to my neighbor?" he said.

Kennon said BP has only paid $50,000 of his city's claim of $1.9 million for damages and response.

Meanwhile, Coast Guard investigators continue their hearings into the Deepwater Horizon blowout on Monday. They’ll be hearing from workers who were on the rig when it blew on April 20.