BP cautious over success of oil leak operation

An operation to pump mud into the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is stopping crude from gushing in the sea, but has not yet “killed” the blown-out well responsible for the worst spill in US history, BP said today.

The company’s head of communications Andrew Gowers said the pressure of mud being forced into the Deepwater Horizon well was temporarily preventing oil from coming out, but it would be “another while” before it was known whether the flow had been permanently stopped.