BP capping operation faces further delays

BP's efforts to stem the flow of oil from the leaking Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico have been hit by further setbacks after the company was yesterday again forced to delay crucial tests on a new "capping stack".

The company said that it had detected a small leak in the line connecting one of the valves on the capping stack, which needs to be fixed before the tests can go ahead.

The tests have already been delayed once this week after the US government ruled that further checks were needed before the company could begin operating the capping stack.

The repair is expected to be completed later today at which point tests are set to get underway to assess whether the ruptured well will be able to cope with the increase in pressure caused by capping the leak.

If the well is deemed safe, BP intends to cap the well, stopping oil leaking into the Gulf for the first time since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on 20 April. Alternatively, the company plans to use the capping stack to capture all the oil from the leak and pump it up to ships on the surface.

BP shares remained stable this morning as investors continued to wait on news as to whether the capping operation will prove successful.

The company has repeatedly stressed that the cap is only a temporary fix and the leak will not be fully plugged until a relief well is successfully completed, hopefully by mid-August.

The latest news comes as the legal fallout from the oil spill continues to escalate after a US House of Representatives committee passed a bill that would bar oil companies with a poor safety record from obtaining new US offshore oil and gas exploration leases for up to seven years.

Meanwhile, secretary of state Hillary Clinton said she would consider a request from a group of senators that the State Department formally investigate allegations that BP lobbied for the late 2007 release of Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted in connection with the Lockerbie bombing.

BP, which had been negotiating oil contracts in Libya at the time of the release, said it was not directly involved in negotiations surrounding al-Megrahi's release, but admitted it did lobby the UK government to make clear its concerns about the slow progress of plans to transfer al-Megrahi back to Libya.