BP Sees No Signs of Damage

Earlier, Kent Wells, a senior vice president of BP, said the company was encouraged by the results of the test, which is meant to assess the condition of the well by allowing pressure to build inside it.

“The longer the test goes, the more confidence we have,” Mr. Wells said. There had been no signs of any oil or gas leaking out of the well or up through the seafloor into the water, he said.

The procedure began Thursday afternoon with the closing of valves on a new, tighter-sealing cap atop the well. With the valves closed, oil stopped gushing into the gulf for the first time since the disaster started with the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on April 20.

In his statement, Admiral Allen said that once the test was complete, “we will immediately return to containment,” reopening the well and collecting oil through pipes up to surface ships.



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