BP delays key pressure test on blown-out Gulf oil well

Houston: BP said it has delayed a critical test to determine if a new cap on its blown-out Macondo well can arrest the flow of oil that has gushed into the Gulf of Mexico for the last 12 weeks, the US Coast Guard said.

"We decided that the process may benefit from additional analysis that will be performed tonight and tomorrow," retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who is overseeing the US response to the spill, said in a statement.