HOUSTON, Aug 13 (Reuters) – BP Plc (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (BP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will
proceed with a relief well to kill its blown-out Gulf of Mexico
well, the top U.S. spill official said on Friday.

“Everybody is in agreement that we need to proceed with the
relief well,” retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said. “The
question is how to do it.”

HOUSTON (Reuters) – BP said the cement seal on its crippled Gulf of Mexico oil well was holding on Friday, as the company readied a final push to permanently shut down the deepwater source of the world’s worst offshore spill.

More than 100 days after the start of the catastrophic spill that ravaged ecologically sensitive wetlands and lucrative coastal economies in the U.S. Gulf, BP said no oil was leaking from the undersea Macondo well and no “recoverable oil” was left on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.

HOUSTON (Reuters) – With most of a once-massive Gulf of Mexico oil slick no longer a threat, environmental experts say the Gulf coast may have dodged the worst nightmare of a massive catastrophe.

The slick from BP Plc.’s blown-out Macondo well has shrunk to the point that cleanup vessels are having trouble finding skimmable oil, and tiny bacteria that thrive in the Gulf’s warm waters may have neutralized much of the danger.

HOUSTON (Reuters) – With most of a once-massive Gulf of Mexico oil slick no longer a threat, environmental experts say the Gulf coast may have dodged the worst nightmare of a massive catastrophe.

The slick from BP Plc.’s(BP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) blown-out Macondo well has shrunk to the point that cleanup vessels are having trouble finding skimmable oil, and tiny bacteria that thrive in the Gulf’s warm waters may have neutralized much of the danger.

HOUSTON (Reuters) – With most of a once-massive Gulf of Mexico oil slick no longer a threat, environmental experts say the Gulf coast may have dodged the worst nightmare of a massive catastrophe.

The slick from BP Plc.’s blown-out Macondo well has shrunk to the point that cleanup vessels are having trouble finding skimmable oil, and tiny bacteria that thrive in the Gulf’s warm waters may have neutralized much of the danger.

HOUSTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government is laying the groundwork to shift its massive Gulf Coast oil spill clean-up operation from acute disaster management to long-term recovery, the nation’s top spill official said on Thursday.

With a cap on BP Plc.’s blown-out well holding for two weeks and a permanent fix in the works, U.S. officials met local leaders and BP executives to consider clean-up operations.

HOUSTON (Reuters) – An emergency alarm that could have warned workers aboard the doomed Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico drilling rig was intentionally disabled, a rig engineer told U.S. investigators on Friday.

Mike Williams, chief engineer technician aboard Swiss-based Transocean Ltd’s rig, said the general alarm that could have detected the cloud of flammable methane gas that enveloped the rig’s deck on April 20 was “inhibited.”

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Tropical Storm Bonnie could help dissipate a giant oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico, but could further damage fragile marshlands if heavy wind and waves drive more oil ashore, experts said on Friday.

The fast-moving Bonnie is over south Florida on a track that is expected to take it near the site of BP Plc’s massive oil leak, and make landfall on the Louisiana coast late on Saturday or early Sunday.

LONDON/HOUSTON, July 19 (Reuters) – Investors fretted about
possible seepage from BP’s (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (BP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) capped Gulf of Mexico
well on Monday and speculation grew about assets the company may
sell to pay multibillion dollar costs for its oil spill.

BP shares, which have been rallying over the past three
weeks, slipped 2.5 percent after the top U.S. government spill
official said that engineers had detected seepage, suggesting
there may be problems with the cap that stopped oil spewing into
the water nearly three months after a rig explosion.

HOUSTON, July 18 (Reuters) – Engineers monitoring BP Plc’s
(BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(BP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico detected
seepage on the ocean floor that could mean problems with the
cap that has stopped oil from gushing into the water, the U.S.
government’s top oil spill official said on Sunday.

Earlier on Sunday, BP officials had expressed hope that the
test of the cap which began Thursday could continue until a
relief well can permanently seal the leak next month. Oil
gushed from the deepsea Macondo well for nearly three months
until the new cap was put in place last week.