MIAMI (Reuters) - BP's "top kill" operation attempting to shut off the leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well will carry on through Saturday and longer if the company's engineers deem it necessary, a BP spokesman said.
The operation, which started on Wednesday, involves pumping heavy drilling "mud" into the leaking well shaft in a bid to push back the escaping oil and gas, and stabilise the well enough to be able to inject cement and seal it.
The U.S. government and public are anxiously following the operation in the hope that it can halt the worst oil spill in U.S. history which has unleashed an environmental and economic calamity on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
"The top kill operation continues and will carry on throughout the day today. We're not putting any time constraints on the operation - it will progress as operations teams deem appropriate through the day today and longer if necessary," BP <:BP.LO:>spokesman Tom Mueller said in an email.
Another BP spokesman, David Nicholas, said the company would give an update on the progress of the top kill operation "when appropriate."
"As you know, the top kill process is stepwise, with periods of pumping, and periods of planning and analysis," Nicholas said.
(Reporting by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Vicki Allen)
