Oil giant BP’s fight against oil-spill is making progress as it managed to insert one end of a mile-long pipe into a shattered oil pipe to drain off some of the crude oil that is flooding into the Gulf of Mexico.

However, the company failed to declare what percentage of oil leaking from the 21-inch riser pipe was now flowing into the 4-inch insertion tube.

The US has said the success of the move of inserting a tube into the shattered pipe was not clear as the technique could not provide clear solution. The government said it would not relax until the leak was permanently sealed and the oil spill cleaned up.

The oil spill, which is threatening marine life and marshlands, followed an explosion on a drilling rig on April 20. As per some estimates, crude oil is leaking at a rate of up to 210,000 gallons per day under the surface of water.

Some experts warned that leaking crude could have entered a major current that could carry it through the Florida Keys and around the East Coast. The oil spill has not damaged beaches and wetlands so far, partially owing to favorable winds and tides.

Now, BP has plans to pump heavy drilling mud into the well, in a move that is expected to pressurize the rising oil to stop the flow. The mud will be followed by cement, which will seal the well permanently.