Efforts to stem the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on top of which the new cap was located. The well integrity test was scheduled to take place after the installation of a three-ram capping stack over the lower marine riser package of the Deepwater Horizon semi-submersible rig on . On July 14, BP announced that the test would be delayed under Allen's orders; oil continued to flow into the Gulf. On July 15, 2010, BP announced that it had successfully plugged the oil leak using a tightly fitted cap. The cap, weighing 75 tons and standing high, is now bolted to the failed blowout preventer. It consists of a
Offshore oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico (United States) blowout) began on April 20, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect. Killing eleven people, it is considered the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry and estimated to be 8% to 31% larger in volume than the previous largest, the Ixtoc I oil spill. In 2012, federal leases in the Gulf of Mexico produced of oil, which made up 19.5% of all U.S. oil production that year, and more than that of any U.S. state other than Texas. The 2012 production was less than the in 2009; however, due to new