国际英语新闻：BP resumes work on relief well after storm

HOUSTON, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- British energy giant BP on Thursday resumed its work on a relief well designed to permanently seal the ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico after a brief suspension due to a tropical storm.

The company suspended drilling on the relief well on Tuesday after forecasters said a low-pressure system off the southwestern coast of Florida was moving towards the Lousiana coast and might threaten the well-drilling operation.

Officials said earlier that the storm would halt the drilling for about four days, but BP said Thursday that as the wind dissipated and the sea waters became calm enough, crews were resuming work on the relief well.

Crews were getting back in place and "operations are getting back under way," BP spokesman Robert Wine was quoted by local media as saying.

The relief well had been drilled down some 17,909 feet below the sea level and was only 30 to 40 feet away from the outside casing of the crippled oil well.

BP aims to permanently seal the leaking well with a "bottom kill" after the relief well intercepts it.