Washington, July 13: The most ambitious attempt yet to halt the oil gushing from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico was underway as a new, tight-fitting cap was successfully placed on the damaged well-head, oil company BP Plc’s undersea video feed showed.
The US Coast Guard Admiral, Mr Thad Allen, the presidentially-appointed national incident commander, said significant progress had been made in the so-called capping stack installation, which contains a series of valves and was installed late on Monday.
BP engineers were planning to begin closing the new valves, gradually raising pressure in the well, Mr Allen said. “The tests are intended to show if the wellhead is able to withstand the pressure of a complete or partial shutdown, he said.
If not, the new cap should at least allow much improved collection of oil from the leaking well.
The tests could take from six to 48 hours or more, Mr Allen said.
Meanwhile, BP is drilling a relief well that it hopes would intersect the existing well shaft next month, allowing a permanent closure of the well.
The leak has spewed massive undersea pollution for three months and caused oil to wash up in nearby Louisiana and other states on the eastern Gulf Coast.
Meanwhile, the US interior secretary, Mr Kenneth Salazar, ordered a new, six-month suspension of deepwater drilling aimed at preventing another leak.
The order makes minor changes to a May 27 moratorium, by allowing some operations to resume if companies demonstrate they can do so safely.