Delays in Gulf caused millions of barrels leak into ocean

Delays in Gulf caused millions of barrels leak into oceanU. S. experts have said that delays in putting the capping stack on BP's leaking Gulf of Mexico well may have let millions more barrels of oil leak into the ocean.

The Houston Chronicle has reported that the cap that successfully stopped the oil flow three weeks ago and cleared the way for the permanent cementing of the well was available the first week in May, just two weeks after the blowout on the well destroyed the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, killed 11 men and started one of the nation's worst oil spills.

However, engineers say that there was a three-week delay before the cap was installed.

According to them, much of the delay was because of fears about the well itself and concerns a tight cap might lead to a sudden break in the well below the sea floor, creating an even bigger disaster.

But, the engineers also said that the cap was also put on hold as BP, and later government officials, considered a number of options at the same time, mostly with an eye toward spill collection.

One of the engineers said, "You can't really blame BP for going in five different directions at once."

He said, "You just didn't know what was going to happen next with the well. How good was the cement job? How good was the casing set? Had the well been breached and where? No one wanted to do anything if you didn't know what the result would be."

"With hindsight its easy to say we could have done this earlier. But without knowing more about the well we could have created an even bigger disaster," he further added. (With Inputs from Agencies)