HOUSTON, July 16 (Xinhua) -- British oil giant BP said Thursday that the blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico has stopped leaking oil after the company placed a new cap over the leak.
It was the first time that the BP completely contained the months-long spill. The following are the key developments of the incident.
On April 20: Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, owned by Transocean and leased by BP, exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers.
On May 16: BP engineers on Sunday inserted a tube into a leaking pipe and began siphoning some of the oil to a drilling rig at the surface.
On May 17: BP announced an award of 70 million U.S. dollars to four U.S. Gulf Coast states to promote tourism in the aftermath of the massive oil spill.
On May 18: The United States closed off a large chunk of the Gulf of Mexico to fishing as fears a giant oil slick could be swept to Florida's beaches and coral reefs overshadowed progress in stemming the spill.
On May 20: The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama demanded BP put more data online, and told it to look for less toxic dispersants while dealing with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
On May 26: BP started a so-called "top kill" operation in an attempt to plug an undersea gusher in the Gulf of Mexico.
On May 27: Obama announced a widespread suspension of new oil drilling and exploration in an effort to improve oversight of oil and gas industry.
On June 3: The Obama administration sent a 69-million-U.S.-dollar bill to BP for taxpayer costs so far in fighting the effects of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
On June 4: A newly attached cap began siphoning some of the oil spewing from a blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico but petroleum was still leaking into the sea.
On June 4: International ratings agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) cut BP's long-term credit rating from AA to AA-.
On June 9: BP depositary shares trading in New York fell 15.8 percent to close at 29.20 dollars, their lowest level since August 1996.
On June 12: The U.S. Coast Guard ordered BP to improve its plan to contain the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 48 hours, as the company's efforts were deemed not enough in light of new oil flow estimates.
On June 16: Obama announced that BP had agreed to put about 20 billion U.S. dollars into an escrow account for claims related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, after talks with top BP executives in the White House.
On July 8: A U.S. federal appeals court rejected the Obama administration's efforts to reinstate a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
On July 12: The U.S. government issued a new moratorium on deepwater drilling, seeking to make the oil industry safer following the huge Gulf of Mexico disaster
On July 12: A White House panel probing the BP Plc oil spill began work and could offer recommendations on the future of deepwater drilling within six months.
On July 15: BP began shutting off the oil flow through a new cap on its blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico to test the capacity of the device.
