The Conversation: Oil Spill Update

July 21, 2010— -- On Day 93 of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP's cap is still holding back the leaking well and the company is prepping a static kill that could shut the well for good.

Under that plan, first discussed publicly yesterday, mud and cement would be pumped into the well to seal it off. BP also continues to drill relief wells that offer another permanent fix, which could be just a couple of days from reaching their target.

The apparent success of BP's monster, school bus-sized stacking cap is good news, particularly with an ominous tropical wave growing near the Dominican Republic. That system could grow into a tropical depression or storm this week, and some projections show it moving directly toward the spill in the Gulf.

If that happens, "that sealing cap is absolutely critical in keeping all of that oil in as the ships on the surface have to peel out and find safer harbors away from the storms," said ABC's Matt Gutman, who's been reporting on the spill from Louisiana.

Gutman joined ABC's Sharyn Alfonsi today for a Conversation on the spill, and also rumors that BP's Tony Hayward could be stepping down from the company. British newspapers are reporting today that Hayward may resign, though BP has denied it.

"Tony Haward was clearly demoted, I guess it was last month," said Gutman.

The executive, who was front and center for BP at the beginning of the spill, earned public ridicule for comments that he wanted the crisis to end so he could have his "life back."

"I don't think Hayward's been back to this continent since June, so we haven't seen much of him," Gutman said.

We hope you'll watch today's Conversation.

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