BP oil well 'kill' delayed: US official

BP's crucial operation to permanently plug the leaking Gulf of Mexico well has been delayed and will now probably begin the week after next, US oil spill chief Thad Allen said today.

BP's crucial operation to permanently plug the leaking Gulf of Mexico well has been delayed and will now probably begin the week after next, US oil spill chief Thad Allen said Sunday.

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"So generally the next week will be preps, making sure everything is ready to go... and then the week of the first of August is when we will attempt to do the static kill and then move back and finish the bottom kill," Allen said.

The former Coast Guard chief leading the US response to the disaster said nothing major had happened to force the delay, it was just an updated timeline provided by BP. "It's been refined and revised based on meetings in Houston," he said, referring to discussions on Sunday morning at BP's headquarters in the Texas city.