BP Delays Drilling of Relief Well

Sorry, it’s not quite over yet. With work poised to resume on the relief well that should finally take care of the Gulf oil leak for good, BP has announced that any progress will be delayed, pending further analysis. The oil company said that before it drills the new well and pumps in mud and cement to kill the old one, it needs to be sure that the operation won’t release any new oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The company says it believes there are 1,000 barrels of oil still trapped in the well after cement was poured on top of it this month. “Realistically, the risk right now is the 1,000 barrels and BP will have directions to mitigate that,” National Incident Commander Thad Allen said. “We will take care of that before we do any bottom kill.” Meanwhile, three months after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, BP still has not updated its oil spill emergency plan, violating federal regulations.