Oil Spill: BP Boss Says Relief Well Could Be Ready by End of July

It would take a "perfect world," but a BP executive says the long-awaited relief well -- the "bottom kill" to block the gushing deep sea oil spill -- could be completed before the end of July.

The well, being drilled parallel to the blown-out Macondo well, is only 200 feet from an interception point, nearly 18,000 feet below the water surface in the Gulf of Mexico. "In a perfect world with no interruptions, it's possible to be ready to stop the well between July 20 and July 27," BP managing director Bob Dudley told the Wall Street Journal.

Others were more cautious. BP hasn't changed its official position that the first of two relief wells will not be completed before August. And retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident commander, told the Washington Post, "While it's nice to be slightly ahead of schedule, I'm sticking to the middle of August because we don't know the condition of the wellbore until we penetrate her."

Millions of gallons of oil have surged into Gulf waters since an April 20 rig explosion killed 11 workers and blew out a BP well on the ocean floor, 5,000 feet deep.

In Louisiana, the Obama administration asked a federal court to reinstate a six-month ban on deep water drilling in the Gulf -- a moratorium that was overturned on June 22 by a U.S. District Court in New Orleans after protests that it is taking away jobs in the region. The Interior Department argued that the temporary halt was needed while tougher safety and environmental standards are put in place for wells more than 500 feet deep. A three-judge appeals panel planned to hear arguments in the case on Thursday.