BP Makes Progress in Containing Giant Oil Leak

Energy giant BP was making some progress on Monday with its efforts to contain the oil gushing forth from a ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico.

Photo: BP Makes Progress in Containing Giant Oil Leak

But the stakes are high amid fears of an ecological and economic calamity along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Investors have already knocked around $30 billion off BP's (BP.L) value and its share price will be closely watched this week, Reuters says.

On Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and BP America Chairman Lamar McKay will appear before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs to assess the response to what lawmakers are calling a "catastrophe."

"We will not rest until BP permanently seals the wellhead, the spill is cleaned up, and the communities and natural resources of the Gulf Coast are restored and made whole," Napolitano and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said in a statement Sunday, CNN reports.