A containment cap newly placed over a ruptured undersea well in the Gulf of Mexico is collecting some 1,000 barrels of crude a day. BP's chief operating officer said the device is designed to corral more than 90 per cent of the oil. The successful deployment of the cap followed BP's several failed attempts to curb the oil spill which has so far contaminated at least 225 kilometers of coastline. Scientists had estimated that 12,000 to 19,000 barrels of oil could be spewing into sea per day. BP's plan is to use the cap to trap most of the oil and siphon it to a tanker on the Gulf's surface until the company completes two relief wells to plug the leak. The wells are expected to be finished by mid-August.