BP prepares to seal Gulf oil well
BP could begin sealing its oil well in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday night, three months after its rupture led to the worst oil spill in US history.
The US official overseeing the federal response said engineers were preparing to pump mud and cement into the well in a procedure known as a "static kill".
Mud and cement would then be pumped in from a relief well below five to seven days later, Admiral Thad Allen said.
Only that "bottom kill" would fully seal it, he said.
The well has been temporarily sealed for two weeks after spilling up to 60,000 barrels of oil a day into the sea since 20 April, when an explosion on a drilling rig off Louisiana killed 11 workers and triggered the leak.
Last week, BP reported a record $17bn (£11bn) loss, having set aside $32bn to cover the costs of the spill.
The oil has caused an environmental disaster and devastated coastal communities in four US states.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Adm Allen said the two-pronged strategy to seal the well once and for all "could start as early as Monday night", depending on the results of ongoing tests.
The static kill, also known as "bull heading", would see two ships pump heavy drilling mud into the well.
The mud would enter through lines installed earlier this month on top of the blow-out preventer, the unit that failed when the rig exploded.
In theory the mud should force the oil and gas back into the reservoir below the seafloor. If pressure in the well remains stable and no unknown leaks are discovered, cement will then be poured in to seal the top of the well pipe.
An earlier effort to pump mud into the well using much of the same equipment at the end of May failed because the pressure of the spewing oil and gas was too great.
Adm Allen said he would travel to BP's headquarters in Houston to oversee the static kill, and that engineers would know within hours if was successful.
But it is the bottom kill, where mud and cement will be pumped through a newly drilled relief well into the bottom of the leaking well, which is needed to seal it completely.
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