The Oil is NOT flowing TONIGHT

Perhaps you have heard the news now that the BP Oil well is currently not gushing oil into the already heavily damaged Gulf of Mexico. Those valiant people who have been fighting the good fight can at least go to bed tonight thinking that today was a day they got ahead of the disaster. At least for TODAY!

This is not the permanent fix and more information will be coming forward in the next 24-48 hours. But at least for now the oil is NOT flowing.

Continue to pray and support efforts like Second Harvest and Catholic Charities. Recently many of my brother Deacons and their wives joined a pastoral care team that is ministering on the ground in the most highly affected areas.

Read more from our local paper on the latest:
BP oil well is no longer leaking into the Gulf of Mexico
Published: Thursday, July 15, 2010, 2:52 PM Updated: Thursday, July 15, 2010, 5:17 PM
Jaquetta White, The Times-Picayune

There was no oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico this afternoon after BP crews managed to shut in the leaking Macondo well.

BPThe feed from Deepwater Horizon well shows no oil coming out.
The company is now conducting a "well integrity test" to determine if the well can remain closed until it can be permanently shut with cement next month.

The test will last anywhere from 6 to 48 hours, during which time scientists will measure pressure inside the well. If pressure rises and holds at 8,000 to 9,000 pounds per square inch, the well could remain closed. If it is lower than that level, however, if will be reopened and oil will be sucked, again, to vessels on the surface.

Low pressures would indicate that oil is escaping through one or more fissures in the well.

BP Vice President Kent Wells said he was "encouraged" by the development, but also trying to remain reserved until the test is complete.

"I'm very pleased that there's no oil going in the Gulf of Mexico, in fact I'm excited that there's no oil going in the Gulf of Mexico," Wells said. "Where I'm holding back my emotion is we're just starting the test. I don't want to create a false sense of excitement."

Scientists estimate that the well produces 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil per day.

BP had originally planned to begin the test Tuesday, but Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen announced late that day that it had been delayed by 24 hours in response to concerns about the procedure from a team of scientists, including Energy Secretary Steven Chu. The scientific team will be involved in reading and interpreting the pressure data as it becomes available.

The scientific team's initial worries were put to rest Wednesday and BP crews were given the green light to proceed with the well shut-in and integrity test.

But the test was delayed again Wednesday evening after engineers discovered a leak in the "choke line" of a new blowout preventer placed on top of the well. The choke line was to be the last of five points closed before the test began.

The leaking system was removed overnight Wednesday and replaced this morning with a back-up choke line that was already on site, the company's vice president Kent Wells said.

Oil has been leaking into the gulf since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank, 50 miles off the Louisiana coast April 20. Eleven people were killed in the accident. BP operated the rig, which it leased from Transocean.