It’s the first time the oil giant has prevented crude from pouring into the sea since an accident blew up its oil rig on April 20.

A well integrity test started yesterday and lasted about six hours with full closure of the choke valve taking place at 2:25pm American central time.

A spokesman said: “Currently the well remains shut-in with no oil flowing into the Gulf.”

He said the company would continue to monitor the situation and was likely to make another statement at around 2pm British time.

For the first 12 hours on July 15 (midnight to noon), approximately 5,875 barrels of oil were collected and approximately 3,430 barrels of oil and 22.5 million cubic feet of natural gas were flared.

For the last 12 hours on Wednesday (July 14) approximately 2,040 barrels of oil were collected and about 1,230 barrels of oil and 7.4 million cubic feet of natural gas was flared.

Luke Walsh

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