国际英语新闻：BP begins "static kill" to permanently plug ruptured well in Gulf of Mexico

Meanwhile, both Allen and BP officials said that relief wells being drilled are the "answer" to sealing the ruptured well for good.

The first of the two BP relief wells under construction is expected to be completed in mid-August. If the "static kill" succeeds, it will make it easier to finish the relief wells and also reduce the amount of mud needed to choke the oil once and for all.

As BP gets close to ending the 100-day plug spill ordeal, scientists charged with determining the flow from the leaking well said Monday that about 4.9 million barrels of oil have seeped from it. About 800,000 barrels of the runaway oil were retrieved by siphoning vessels on the surface over the leak.

Hundreds of millions of liters of crude oil spewed into the sea before BP managed to seal the leak in mid-July with a tight- fitting containment cap.