Gulf Oil Leak Could Be Capped This Weekend

A new, tighter-fitting containment cap will be placed on top of the well gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, which officials are hopeful could stem the leak by Monday.

National Incident Commander Thad Allen said BP will replace the existing cap, which has been on the well for about a month, on Saturday, the New Orleans' Times-Picayune reported.

Also this weekend, a third oil-collecting vessel was expected be deployed in the Gulf. The Helix Producer will be tested Saturday and could begin sucking up crude by Sunday. It would join two other ships, the Discoverer Enterprise and the Q4000, which together collected nearly 25,000 barrels of oil on Wednesday, the newspaper said.

An estimated 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil are estimated to be gushing from the well each day.

Even if the new cap is successful in stopping the oil flowing into the Gulf since April, BP will continue to drill a relief well designed to permanently shut down the leaking well.

Meanwhile, a New Orleans appeals court rejected a moratorium on deep-water oil drilling, ruling that the Interior Department did not show the government would be hit with "irreparable injury" if the ban is not imposed.