BP cements next stage in plugging oil well

BP today began pumping cement into its Gulf of Mexico oil well, hoping to start sealing it for good a day after it managed to stop the crude gushing out with heavy mud.

The next step in the so-called "static kill" is another bright spot for the fuel giant as the tide appears to be turning in the battle to contain the oil, with a federal report this week indicating that only about a quarter of the spilled crude remains in the Gulf and is degrading quickly.

If the cement and mud plug is successful, the next step involves an 18,000-foot relief well that intersects with the old well just above the vast undersea reservoir that has been losing oil freely since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers.

BP then hopes to pump mud and possibly cement down the relief well after its completion later this month. The firm will not declare an end to the environmental disaster until the relief well is working.

There is still nearly 53 million gallons oil in the Gulf or on its shores, according to the report released yesterday by the US Interior Department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This is nearly five times the size of the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in 1989.

The remaining oil, much of it below the surface, remains a threat to sea life and Gulf Coast marshes, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said, but the spill no longer threatens the Florida Keys or the US east coast.

President Barack Obama declared that the operation was "finally close to coming to an end".