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Gulf oil well cap appears successful

Engineers battling the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are confident that the cap over the rogue well is strong enough that they may be able to plug it by pumping mud inside, bringing the three-month disaster closer to an end, BP and the Coast Guard said Monday.
The cap is holding tight at pressures slightly below what engineers had expected, said BP Senior Vice President Kent Wells. That means it may be possible to once again try using the dense liquid to help permanently seal the well, he said.

An earlier attempt at a "top kill" failed because the oil was gushing too violently, but it may be easier for the mud to plug the well when oil isn't flowing, Wells said.

The capping strategy hit a snag over the weekend when oil was discovered seeping into the nearby sea bed. But that oil doesn't appear to have come from the well, said retired Coast Guard admiral Thad Allen. He said pollution from the well doesn't seem to be spilling and pressures are acceptable.

"There is no indication at this time that this is any indication of a significant problem in the well bore," Allen said. "But we are running every one of these anomalies down."

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