BP says Macondo well capped sucessfully

After cement was poured in the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico last week to end the worst accidental oil spill in history, British oil giant, BP today said that it had successfully plugged the leak.

''Following the completion of cementing operations on the MC252 well on August 5, pressure testing was performed which indicated there is an effective cement plug in the casing. BP believes the static kill and cementing procedures have been successful,'' BP said in a statement.

BP said that it was continuing with its effort to identify and collect oil on the surface of the sea and to collect and clean up oil that had reached shore and reiterated that since 15 July, no new oil has flowed into the Gulf of Mexico from the MC252 well.

Operations on the second relief well, which started in mid-May, have been suspended at a measured depth of around 15,800 feet, so that they do not interfere with the operations at the first relief well.

The relief well, which has about 85 feet to go, probably will intercept the capped well later this week, but its completion will depend on the weather as a tropical storm or a hurricane could delay drilling operations, BP said.

Following the 20 April explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig, approximately 4.9 million barrels of crude are estimated to have been spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, making it the world's worst oil spill.