New cap stops BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico

For the first time since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers, oil has stopped leaking from BP's gushing Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico. But in an operation akin to putting the top back on a fizzing soda bottle, it is far from certain whether the newly installed 70-tonne cap will hold.

Both BP and the White House emphasised that it is too early to celebrate. "I am very excited that there's no oil in the Gulf of Mexico," said Kent Wells, a senior vice-president for BP. "But we just started the test and I don't want to create a false sense of excitement."

"I think it is a positive sign, we're still in the testing phase," President Barack Obama told reporters.

Down on the Gulf of Mexico, such is the relationship between the locals and BP that a crab fisherman interviewed by the New York Times said: "It's like putting a Band-Aid on a dead man in my opinion" - and doubted the news of the capping was even true.

"I started out kind of believing in them," said 48-year-old Jeff Ussury, who assumes his days as a crabber are over for good, "but I don't believe in them at all anymore."

The fact that the well is finally under control, however temporarily, has brought a palpable sense of relief in Washington and on Wall Street where US-listed shares in BP rose eight per cent following the announcement at 2.25pm local time yesterday that the leak was contained.

BP is now praying the cap (above) will hold until it can intercept the well with the relief well it has been drilling over recent weeks, and which is now only 4ft away. Once the relief well is finished - sometime next month - the plan is to seal the Macondo well with heavy drilling mud and cement.

Even if the leak is over, the after-effects will continue to be felt for years. Tar balls will continue to wash up on the Gulf coast, and marine biologists say it could be decades before the fish and the fishing industry can recover. And, as The First Post reported earlier this week, there are serious fears about the long-term effects of the dispersants used to break down the oil.

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