BP: No New Oil Flowing into Gulf of Mexico - Yaaay!
(CBS/AP) BP says oil from its broken well has stopped gushing into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time since April.
The announcement Thursday came after company officials said all valves had been shut on a new cap over the busted well in an experiment to stop the spill.
Kent Wells, a BP PLC vice president, said at a news briefing that oil stopped flowing into the water at 2:25 p.m. CDT.
It was a long-awaited milestone in one of the nation’s worst environmental disasters. While not a permanent solution to plug the busted well, the success in capturing the oil spewing out was welcome news.
Special Section: Disaster in the Gulf
The cap is not a permanent fix. BP is drilling two relief wells so it can pump mud and cement into the leaking well in hopes of plugging it for good. Those are expected to be completed in August.
The new sealing cap had been installed Monday and was on track to be closed up Wednesday before a leak set back the effort. The leak on the side of the towering, 75-ton capping stack was fixed by replacing the assembly, called a “choke line” overnight.