HOUSTON/GALLIANO, La., (Reuters) – Energy giant BP  marked a limited success at containing the oil that is gushing  unabated into the Gulf of Mexico yesterday and said it may be  able to stop the flow permanently in about a week.

But reports of huge oil plumes in the Gulf — including one  as large as 10 miles (16 km) long, three miles (5 km) wide and  300 feet (91 metres) thick — underscored the spill’s  environmental impact as the crisis moved into its 24th day.

Crude oil has been gushing unchecked from a ruptured well  about a mile (1.6 km) under the ocean’s surface, threatening an  ecological and economic calamity along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

After other attempts to contain the spill failed, BP Plc  succeeded in inserting a tube into the leaking well and  capturing some oil and gas.

The underwater operation used guided robots to insert a  small tube into a 21-inch (53-cm) pipe, known as a riser, to  funnel the oil to a ship at the surface.