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A cap was seated atop a blown-out Gulf well but the volcano of oil obscured it from view early Friday making it impossible to tell if BP's latest attempt to curtail the nation's worst spill was having any success.
Robots a mile beneath the Gulf of Mexico positioned the inverted funnel-like lid over the main pipe on the leaking well on Thursday night. Live video footage, though, showed that the oil seemed unimpeded. BP spokesman Toby Odone said he had no immediate information on whether the cap was successfully attached.
The placement was a positive step but not a solution, said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point man for the disaster. "Even if successful, this is only a temporary and partial fix and we must continue our aggressive response operations at the source, on the surface and along the Gulf's precious coastline," Allen said in a statement.
A rubber seal on the inside of the cap will attempt to keep oil from escaping, though engineers acknowledge some crude will still come out. The plan is to capture most of the spewing oil and bring it to a surface ship.
To put the cap in place, BP had to slice off the pipe with giant shears, which was risky because it could temporarily increase the flow by as much as 20 percent. Also, the shears made a less-precise cut, making it more difficult for the lid to fit.
The well has spit out up to 174 million litres of oil since a rig exploded on April 20 about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the Louisiana coast, killing 11 workers. BP was leasing the rig and is responsible to fix and clean up the spill.
