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Despite concerns about problems on the seafloor near the well, government officials on Monday said they would allow the pressure test to continue.

Officials on Saturday said that pressure readings in the well were rising steadily after the valves were closed on a cap at the well’s top.

BP Plc's stricken Gulf of Mexico oil well showed no signs of leaking on Friday, but officials intensified oversight after a critical test showed pressure barely rising in the capped gusher.

BP Plc said on Thursday it stopped the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico from its deep-sea well for the first time since it ruptured in April, prompting hope that the leak can be plugged for good.

After day of delay, firm gets go ahead to run test, which will close down the flow of oil well in a series of steps as officials closely monitor pressure.

The Gulf oil spill appears to have been stopped by the latest containment cap, according to unconfirmed reports from PBS Newshour and CNN.

BP said today its attempt to place a new cap on its ruptured undersea well was proceeding as planned. But while robots replace the old cap, crude is flowing freely.

The federal official leading the Gulf oil spill cleanup said Friday a new containment cap and an additional ship collecting oil could effectively contain the spill in the next three days.

"Bottom kill" -- a massive dose of mud and cement shot through a relief well to stop the gushing of oil -- could take place before by July 20, BP says.

As engineers bore deeper into the seafloor toward the source of the oil still spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, BP PLC is growing more confident that the relief well it expects to complete in August will succeed where all previous efforts to contain or kill the gusher have failed.

But what if it doesn't work?

At the very least, oil would continue to spill while workers try something else.

That proposition would surely bring more misery for the people who live, work and play along the shores from Louisiana to Florida.