BP begins to fit new cap on Gulf of Mexico oil leak

The BBC’s Madeleine Morris says it may take days to complete the operation Underwater robots have successfully removed a leaking cap on BP’s blown-out Gulf of Mexico oil well, the first stage in fitting a tighter cap.

However, many thousands of barrels of oil will now flow freely until the new cap is fitted, an operation that could take four to seven days.

BP also said there was no guarantee of success at such a depth.

A fleet of 400 skimmers is in place to try to minimise the effects of increased oil loss.

The company has two other operations ongoing. One will deploy a larger surface vessel to collect oil, the other is drilling two wells to intercept the leak, which it is hoped will provide a permanent solution.

The larger ship, Helix Producer, could be in place to collect leaking oil as early as Sunday.

BP says the first of the relief wells will be finished in the first half of August.

The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig in April killed 11 people. President Barack Obama has called the leak the biggest environmental disaster in US history.