Mud blocking flow of gulf blowout, for now

AFP:

BP has stopped the oil gushing out of a ruptured Gulf of Mexico well, US officials said Thursday, but cautioned it was still too early to declare victory in the five-week disaster.

"They've been able to stabilize the wellhead, they're pumping mud down it. They've stopped the hydrocarbons from coming up," said Coast Guard chief Thad Allen, who is coordinating the US government's battle against the oil spill.

He told local radio WWL First News that BP "had some success overnight" but cautioned the British energy giant was "in a period of kind of wait and see right now where they see how the well stabilizes."

"So everybody is cautiously optimistic, but there is no reason to declare victory yet. We need to watch it very, very carefully."

The news came after BP yesterday launched a maneuver dubbed a "top kill" in a bid to plug the leak which has been gushing oil into the Gulf since a April 20 explosion ripped through the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform.

...

This is good news for the Gulf and for offshore drilling. To shut down this blowout under extreme conditions demonstrates what can be done to control disasters in deep water wells. BP had to grope with the problem before a solution was found by the engineers in Houston, but it looks like they had some success, that will make it easier to solve this problem if it ever happens again.

Jack Gerard of the API discusses the impact of the delay in drilling permits. If this blowout is successfully plugged, that has to limit some of the reasons for delay.

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