BP temporarily halts oil flow

Thad Allen, overseeing US response, said the cap
may only be used to shut the well in emergencies [AFP]


Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/07/201071516524296809.html

BP engineers have temporarily halted the gush of crude into the Gulf of Mexico from their oil well, as the company runs pressure tests on the rupture wellhead and a capping device.

The British company on Thursday shut down vessels siphoning oil and closed all valves on the 75-tonne metal cap placed over the well earlier in the week, completely stopping the leak for the first time since it began in April.

"I'm very excited to see no oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico," Kent Wells, senior vice president of BP, said, adding that it was an "ecouraging sign".

A statement from the oil giant had earlier said the well integrity test being carried out "will last at least six hours and could last up to 48 hours".

President Barack Obama, who has seen his US public approval ratings drop as the crisis dragged on, called it a "positive sign" but noted that the latest effort was still in the testing phase.

Experts say between 35,000-60,000 barrels of oil have been pouring into the Gulf of Mexico daily for about 13 weeks, leaving millions of gallons sloshing around in the waters, threatening vulnerable wildlife and fouling the shores of five Gulf states.

A leak in a hose connected to one of the valves in the capping device, which had delayed the test and was repaired earlier on Thursday, had been only the latest setback for the British company.

Interim solution

Since a rig drilling the BP oil well exploded on April 20, numerous efforts to contain the spill have failed, and the oil company has seen its share prices plummet.

Thad Allen, the retired Coast Guard admiral overseeing the US government's response to the spill, said the cap could succeed in stemming the leak, but remained an interim solution.

"The intention of the capping stack was never to close in the well per se," he told reporters in New Orleans. "The best reason to be able to shut in the well right now ... is it allows us to abandon the site if there is a hurricane."

"We can certainly consider shutting in the well - that is a possibility and of course we would like to do that."

BP's plan is to funnel the leaking oil through pipes connected to the cap up to collection ships on the surface of the water.

However, the only proven way to permanently kill the leak lies in the drilling of relief wells to intercept the ruptured one.

The first of two such wells started in May is expected to intercept it by the end of July and plug it with drilling mud and cement by mid-August.