Gulf Oil Spill: BP Says 'Top Kill' Plug Going to Plan

BP says its operation to pump mud into a breached Gulf of Mexico oil well to try to stem the flow of oil caused by a rig explosion is going to plan. The US government is backing the "top kill" procedure, which has never been tried at such a depth.

BP is under intense pressure to succeed with its latest attempt to stem the leak, after previous measures failed. A BP official said he believed mud, not oil, was exiting the well's ruptured pipe six hours after the work began, reports BBC News.

"What you've been observing coming out of the top of that riser is most likely mud," BP Plc chief operating officer Doug Suttles told reporters in Houston.

"We can't fully confirm that because we can't sample it. And the way we know we've been successful is it stops flowing."
Company officials say it could be a couple of days before they know whether the "top kill" operation has worked. Thousands of barrels of oil have been spewing into the Gulf every day since the accident on 20 April.

Mud will continue to be pumped into the well for hours, spokesman Steve Rinehart said.

"The procedure is intended to stem the flow of oil and gas and ultimately kill the well by injecting heavy drilling fluids through the blowout preventer on the seabed, down into the well," a BP statement said.