BP's new oil cap headed for well, then testing

BP expected to attach a tight, new cap Monday on its blown-out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, putting the oil giant a few tantalizing steps closer to knowing whether the fix will be enough to finally stop crude from gushing into the Gulf.

The new cap was about 300 feet (90 meters) from the point where it's supposed to connect with the leaking well, said BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles in a Monday morning news briefing.

The BP executive was careful to keep expectations grounded, stressing that once the cap is in place, it will take days to know whether it can withstand the pressure of the erupting oil and feed it through pipes to surface ships. The cap and vessels together make up BP's plan to stop oil from spewing into the Gulf for the first time since April 20.

"Until we have the cap on, securely fitted in place, and know it's operating per the design, we have to recognize this is a complex operation," Suttles said.

Gulf residents were wary after weeks of failed efforts to stop the spill and downcast about the damage already done to the biologically rich Gulf and the coast's two leading industries, fishing and tourism. BP's prior attempts to fix the problem included a giant concrete box placed over the well, mud and shredded rubber pumped into it and a pipe to siphon the crude.

"At this point, there have been so many ups and downs, disappointments, that everybody down here is like, 'We'll believe it when we see it,'" said Keith Kennedy, a charter boat captain in Venice, Louisiana.

The new cap is designed to snap into place atop the well, held by a connecting piece that was installed Sunday on top of the well pipe, said Eric Smith, associate director of the Tulane Energy Institute.

Once the cap is firmly in place, the company will begin "shutting in" the well by closing perforated pipe at the top. The company will be looking to see if the pressure rises under the cap. If it does, that means there are no other leaks, and the cap is stopping oil from leaking into the Gulf.

But lower pressure readings may indicate leaking elsewhere in the well. In that case, Suttles said, the company will work to collect the leak with surface vessels and by dropping yet another cap on top of the stack.

The testing should last about 48 hours, Suttles said.

Even if the tests show the cap is blocking oil from getting into the waters of the Gulf, the leak will continue to spew until a permanent fix is reached.

BP PLC still has to finish work on a relief well that's intended to allow the company to pump heavy drilling mud and cement into the busted wellhead, plugging it for good.

Work on the new cap has been moving briskly, with the old, leaky cap coming off the well on Saturday. One snag in the operation has been a delay in the startup of a vessel called the Helix Producer, which is supposed to connect to the well by a link below the cap, ultimately collecting roughly 1 million gallons (3.8 million liters) of oil a day.

The ship was supposed to begin collection Sunday, but two minor technical glitches prevented that, Suttles said. He expects the ship to begin Monday, reaching full capacity within two days or so.

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Weber reported from Houston.