BP: Oil Leak Stopped Thanks to Experimental Cap

(July 15) -- Oil from the sunken Deepwater Horizon well has reportedly stopped gushing into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time since the rig exploded in April and triggered possibly the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

BP officials said the company's efforts to place a new cap over the busted well had succeeded with the closing of all valves on the new cap. Kent Wells, a vice president of the much-vilified British oil giant, told reporters the oil stopped flowing at 2:25 p.m. CDT.

The political implications of stopping the leak could be seen in how quickly the White House reacted to the news. Shortly after BP's announcement, President Barack Obama touched on the topic during a news conference to discuss the Senate's passage of financial regulation reform.

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"It is a positive sign, still in the testing phase," Obama said. "We'll have more to say about it tomorrow."

The president's wait-and-see attitude was echoed by BP's chief operating officer, Doug Suttles, this afternoon. "We need to be cautious right now," he said. "It's a great sight, but we're far from the finish line."

The cap isn't considered a permanent solution, but BP hoped the experimental move would halt the flow of oil until two relief wells are finished to lower pressure so mud and cement can be used to plug the leak.

"The sealing cap system never before has been deployed at these depths or under these conditions, and its efficiency and ability to contain the oil and gas cannot be assured," the company said earlier today, before announcing the cap was working.

BP had said that it would be conducting a well integrity test that would last six to 48 hours, and that "even if no oil is released during the test, this will not be an indication that oil and gas flow from the well bore has been permanently stopped."

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Soon after the experiment began, retired Adm. Thad Allen of the U.S. Coast Guard, the national incident commander for the oil spill, said the government and BP would be conducting tests every six hours to see if it's working or simply directing oil to another area where it might burst into the gulf.

"We're going to get a new seismic reading off the floor that will tell us, as a result of that testing at high pressure for 48 hours, Was there a change in the well bore? Or did we have oil leak into the formation and form a pocket that could be a precursor for a breaching the ocean floor? Or is there methane gas coming up, which would be a precursor as well," he said.

"Once we are satisfied that there are no indications that we've compromised the integrity of the well bore or we create an irreversible position of oil leaving the well bore," he explained, "we can go back then and put the system under pressure again. And once we're convinced we've done no pressure to the well bore and it can withstand the pressure after another seismic run, after that 48 hours, we can certainly consider shutting in the well."

The company ceased drilling at least one of the two relief wells so it could test the new cap, and today Wells declined comment on plans to restart that work. The relief wells were originally projected to be completed in mid-August.

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Gulf Oil Spill

A crew member looks out at the California Responder oil skimming vessel from the deck of the Pacific Responder in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana Monday, July 12, 2010. The vessels sailed from their home ports in California to the Gulf of Mexico to assist in the containment of oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon oil well. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

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Vessels assisting in the containment of oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil well leak are seen from the Pacific Responder oil skimming vessel in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana Monday, July 12, 2010. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

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Crew members connect a hose to an intake for recovered oil while preparing for skimming operations on the Pacific Responder oil skimming vessel in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana Monday, July 12, 2010. The vessel sailed from its home port in the San Francisco Bay Area to the Gulf of Mexico to assist in the containment of oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon oil well. It arrived near the leak site this morning and is awaiting orders from on-water coordinators. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

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The New Jersey Responder oil skimming vessel is seen on the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana Monday, July 12, 2010. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

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Senior master responder Jeff Bramlett walks past rolled-up oil booms while preparing for oil skimming operations on the deck of the Pacific Responder oil skimming vessel in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana Monday, July 12, 2010. The vessel sailed from its home port in the San Francisco Bay Area to the Gulf of Mexico to assist in the containment of oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon oil well. It arrived near the leak site this morning and is awaiting orders from on-water coordinators. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Gulf Oil Spill

Supervisor Wade Falany handles an oil suction hose while preparing for skimming operations on the deck of the Pacific Responder oil skimming vessel in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana Monday, July 12, 2010. The vessel sailed from its home port in the San Francisco Bay Area to the Gulf of Mexico to assist in the containment of oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon oil well. It arrived near the leak site this morning and is awaiting orders from on-water coordinators. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

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In this image taken from video provided by BP PLC, oil flows from the top of the transition spool at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Monday, July 12, 2010. Deep-sea robots swarmed around BP's ruptured oil well Monday in a delicately choreographed effort to attach a tighter-fitting cap that could finally stop crude from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico nearly three months into the crisis. (AP Photo/BP PLC) NO SALES

Gulf Oil Spill

Deck hand Martin Mayorga carries netting while preparing for skimming operations on the deck of the Pacific Responder oil skimming vessel in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana Monday, July 12, 2010. The vessel sailed from its home port in the San Francisco Bay Area to the Gulf of Mexico to assist in the containment of oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon oil well. It arrived near the leak site this morning and is awaiting orders from on-water coordinators. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Gulf Oil Spill

Supervisor Wade Falany handles a rope while preparing for oil skimming operations on the deck of the Pacific Responder oil skimming vessel in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana Monday, July 12, 2010. The vessel sailed from its home port in the San Francisco Bay Area to the Gulf of Mexico to assist in the containment of oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon oil well. It arrived near the leak site this morning and is awaiting orders from on-water coordinators. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Gulf Oil Spill

In this image taken from video provided by BP PLC, the new containment cap, left, is lowered toward the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, right, as a remotely operated vehicle operates in between the two in the Gulf of Mexico, Monday, July 12, 2010. Deep-sea robots swarmed around BP's ruptured oil well Monday in a delicately choreographed effort to attach a tighter-fitting cap that could finally stop crude from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico nearly three months into the crisis. (AP Photo/BP PLC) NO SALES

Gulf Oil Spill