<P> <p><p><b>Workers attempt to position booms along the beach in Port Fourchon, Louisiana.</b> <p><p></P><P> <p><p>BP sharply reduced its estimate on Monday of how much oil it is siphoning off each day from a ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico that has been spewing oil for a month and threatening ecological disaster. <p><p></P><P> <p><p>The British-based energy giant said the oil captured on average by a mile-long siphon tube was 2,010 barrels (84,420 gallons/319,500 litres) per day in the six days before May 23, less than half the up to 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons/795,000 litres) per day the company estimated it had been capturing. <p><p></P><P> <p><p>At times the capture was as low as 1,360 barrels per day (57,120 gallons/216,200 litres). <p><p></P><P> <p><p>The oil group believes about 5,000 barrels have been leaking every day, although some experts have given significantly higher estimates for the size of the leak. <p><p></P><P> <p><p><b>Pictures by Reuters</b> <p><p></P>