Cautious Optimism Reigns As Well-Plugging Top Kill Enters Second Day
The Top Kill, and the Oil Flow, Continue BP's latest attempt to plug the Gulf oil leak is now more than 24 hours old, and initial assessments look promising. While we're by no means out of the woods yet, government and BP officials are cautiously optimistic that the so-called top kill is succeeding to stem the flow of oil from the busted riser into the Gulf of Mexico. Perhaps most optimistic is U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's top man on the job, who this morning told the L.A. Times that the efforts to reduce the well pressure to zero appeared to be working. The drilling mud being pumped into the riser by ships on the surface has apparently reduced the well pressure significantly, though the pressure is still persisting. Another senior technician working the top kill said initial data coming back from the well has triggered...