For the first time since the Gulf oil spill disaster started on April 20, the entire flow of oil was being contained Thursday as part of BP's pressure testing of a new cap, BP and federal officials said.
If the cap holds, the idea is to keep it on — and the flow checked — until a relief well can plug the blownout well in August.
If the cap does not hold, BP has added to its siphoning capacity and expects to be able to siphon up most if not all of the oil starting next week.
BP had slowly dialed down the flow as part of the pressure test. Engineers are now monitoring the pressure to see if the busted well holds.
BP Vice President Kent Wells said that oil stopped flowing into the water at 3:25 p.m. ET.
The federal Joint Information Center confirmed that the flow had stopped.
"I am very pleased that there's no oil going into the Gulf of Mexico," Wells said. "In fact, I'm really excited there's no oil going into the Gulf of Mexico."It's good if this cap holds. I still stand by my theory however that the daily siphoning numbers BP should be reporting from this cap will find some way to get lost.
For now, the Gulf is the victor here.
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