BP stops Gulf oil spill after tests on cap
CRUCIAL tests on the Macondo well cap have succeeded in stopping the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time in three months.
It is the first time the flow has stopped since an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig on 20 April.
US President Barack Obama said the development was a “positive sign”but noted that BP was still in the testing phase.
BP said yesterday that the “well integrity test”, which will determine whether the cap can stop the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico altogether, will last between six hours and 48 hours.
BP said: “Although it cannot be assured, it is expected that no oil will be released to the ocean during the test. Even if no oil is released during the test, this will not be an indication that oil and gas flow from the wellbore has been permanently stopped.”
If BP is successful in containing the spill altogether, the move could be seen as a turning point in its spill response, which has cost over $3.5bn (£2.27bn).
Meanwhile, BP continues to face political pressure in the US.
A Congressional committee has agreed measures that would ban the firm from new offshore drilling for seven years.
And the company is also under intense pressure from the US government, which yesterday demanded BP hand over records detailing its involvement in the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi. The letter came after the company said it had spoken to the UK government in late 2007 about the transfer.
On this matter BP said: “We were aware that this could have a negative impact on UK commercial interests, including the ratification by the Libyan government of BP’s exploration…BP was not involved in any discussions about [his] release.”
Last night, the oil giant was also believed to be close to finalising the sale of up to $20bn (£13bn) worth of assets, including $12bn to Apache.