BP's robot submarines managed late on Thursday to lower a containment cap onto its ruptured deep-sea wellhead in a bid to curtail the flow of oil gushing nonstop into the Gulf of Mexico for 45 days, U.S. cable channels reported.There was no immediate word from BP or from U.S. officials on the status of the operation.The company's latest attempt to collect at least some of the escaping crude oil and siphon it safely to collection ships on the surface offers the most immediate hope of gaining control over the worst oil spill in U.S. history.The British energy giant has said it does not expect to be able to fully halt the oil flow until August, when two relief wells are due for completion.Oil has been pouring into the Gulf unchecked at a rate of up to 19,000 barrels a day since an explosion April 20 that demolished a BP-contracted drilling platform off the coast of Louisiana, killing 11 crewmen and unleashing an environmental disaster of epic proportions.A live video feed of underwater robots working at the blowout site, located on the ocean floor about a mile (1.6 km) below the surface, appeared to show the white well cap maneuvered onto the jagged top of the crippled wellhead assembly, while oil billowed from the sides of the apparatus.GRAPHIC: http://link.reuters.com/wyf57kMSNBC reported that the robot craft had wrestled the cap onto the top of the blown-out well. CNN said the company was attaching the cap to the well.The latest development came hours after BP's undersea robots managed to shear away the gushing well pipe that had protruded from the wellhead assembly, leaving a rough-hewn surface around the remaining hole.A weekend attempt to to plug the well by forcing large quantities of drilling mud into the pipe failed.Once the containment cap is in place, the plan is to start funneling at least some of the escaping oil and gas into a large hose that would carry it from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico to the surface, where it would be collected in ships and safely removed.BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward hailed completion of the two-day undersea cutting operation as "an important milestone" but said it would take 12 to 24 hours to determine whether the capping and siphoning process would work.Despite the initial success in its latest effort to curb the flowing crude, BP's financial outlook was further clouded as two credit-rating agencies downgraded the company's debt, reflecting assessments that BP faces lasting damage from the crisis.(Additional reporting by Verna Gates on Dauphin Island and Michael Peltier in Tallahassee, Florida, Chris Baltimore and Kristen Hays in Houston and Deborah Zabarenko in Washington)(Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Paul Simao)News posted by www.newsinfoline.com
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