With government scientists estimating 12,000 to 19,000 barrels of oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico each day, BP says that its latest efforts to contain the spill seem to be working.

Over the weekend, as an oil spill cap was put in place, BP is now saying that it managed to capture 10,500 barrels of oil on Sunday by siphoning it off to vessels on the surface of the gulf. As workers now move toward slowly closing vents on top of the containment system that are there to prevent the rapid build-up of natural gas hydrate that could form blockages, BP CEO Tony Hayward says that the goal is to have a second system in place by next weekend. Once the cap is fully operational, it could end up capturing 630,000 gallons of crude a day. Yet the oil leak will not be fully stopped until mid-August.

“This will be well into the fall,” Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen,  said on the CBS program, Face the Nation Sunday. “This is a siege across the entire Gulf. This spill is holding everybody hostage, not only economically but physically. And it has to be attacked on all fronts.”

With the spill now hitting the white sands of Pensacola Beach, Florida, who knows where it will head next? BP is doing everything it can in the public relations department, but it’s still not enough in the eyes of a devastated, and jaded nation.