BP Caps Oil Well but Success Unknown
LONDON (
) --
BP
placed a cap over the blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico but it was impossible to tell Friday morning if BP's latest attempt to stop the flow of oil was a success.
Robots a mile beneath the Gulf of Mexico positioned the inverted funnel-like lid over the main pipe on the leaking well on Thursday night, the
Associated Press
reports. But live video footage showed oil still was flowing out of the well. A BP spokesman said he had no immediate information on whether the cap was successfully attached.
Placing the cap over the leaking well was called only a "temporary" fix by Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen.
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"Even if successful, this is only a temporary and partial fix and we must continue our aggressive response operations at the source, on the surface and along the Gulf's precious coastline," Allen said in a statement.
The plan is to capture most of the spewing oil and bring it to a surface ship,
AP
reports.
If the cap fails, the best chance is probably a relief well, which is at least two months away, the news agency adds.
The well has spit out between 21 million and 46 million gallons of oil since a rig exploded on April 20 about 50 miles from the Louisiana coast. It is the
largest oil spill in U.S. history
.
BP, which was leasing the rig, is responsible to fix and clean up the spill.
This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.com.
