The US government has ordered the British oil company BP to submit a plan to reopen the sealed well Macondo, from which the oil that caused the spill in the Gulf of Mexico escapes, after the engineers in charge of operations have identified a small oil leak. The US government has given 24 hours to the British company to analyze these leaks.

This order is due to the fact that detecting the leak could mean that there are problems in metal sealing cap placed by BP last week, - the company had said it had stopped completely the oil leak-, and would be an attempt to solve them.

“I direct you to provide me a written procedure for opening the choke valve as quickly as possible without damaging the well should hydrocarbon seepage near the well head be confirmed,” said Thad Allen, the U.S. official in charge of the response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, in a letter addressed to Bob Dudley, BP Chief Managing Director in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company succeeded for the first time in stopping the oil spill last Thursday, 87 days after the explosion and subsequent sinking of the rig 'Deepwater Horizon', which operated in the area in an accident that has caused the greatest ecological disaster in the US history.

Then, the oil company began a trial of 48 hours to measure pressure in the well and to make sure that there were no leaks, a period that was extended other 24 hours on Saturday.

The Government fears that the capping can cause oil leaks through other points if the well structure is fragile. 
BP and the Government have the option to let the oil flow to the huge sealing cap that can collect up to 80,000 oil barrels that would be later transported to some ships on the surface trough pipes.

Official estimates suggest that the well Macondo has been releasing to the sea among 35,000 and 60,000 oil barrels per day since the accident on April 20.