British Petroleum to seal oil well

The US government is now preparing to launch an operation to permanently seal British Petroleum’s Macondo well which has leaked 4.9 million barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico before being capped last month.



Scientists have said only a fifth of the leaking oil, around 800,000 barrels was captured during the clean-up.



The well broke open after an explosion on a drilling rig in April.



The latest operation dubbed static kill will see heavy drilling fluid known as mud being used to force any remaining oil back into the reservoir.



A decision will then be made on whether the well can be immediately sealed with cement.