Shares in BP PLC (BP) rose sharply Thursday as U.S.
Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who is overseeing the disaster response in the
Gulf of Mexico
, said the
company's "top kill" maneuver had successfully prevented oil and gas
leaking from the well.
At 1358 GMT BP shares were up 5.2%, or 26 pence, at 518p in a broadly stronger
market.
Allen told a
New Orleans
radio station that BP's "top kill" operation to plug the leak
has "stopped the hydrocarbons from coming up," the well. However, he
cautioned that the operation to seal the well permanently was not complete.
The key now, Allen said, is whether the heavy drilling mud BP is injecting into
the well exerts enough sustained pressure for engineers to move forward with an
operation to cement and seal the wellhead.
"The goal is to put enough mud down the well bore to the point where there
is no pressure exerted back by the hydrocarbons and then allow a cement plug to
be put in place," Allen told the radio station.
Oil has been leaking from BP's damaged Macondo well for more than a month
following an explosion that destroyed the rig attached to the well. Oil has
contaminated
Louisiana
beaches and marshes and killed wildlife.