United and Continental airlines this morning announced the senior executive team that will lead the merged company after the two combine later this year.

Four of the executives hail from Houston-based Continental and the other half from Chicago-based United.

The merged company will be named United and headquartered in Chicago. Continental's Jeff Smisek will serve as its president and CEO.

From Continental, Zane Rowe will be chief financial officer, Nene Foxhall will oversee communications and government affairs, Jim Compton will be chief marketing officer and Mike Bonds will be responsible for human resources and labor relations.

From United, Pete McDonald will be chief operations officer, Keith Halbert will be chief information officer, Tom Sabatino will be general counsel and Jeff Foland will lead the combined carrier's loyalty program.

The closely watched cap keeping oil from spilling out of BP's Macondo well will stay closed even as support ships and crews evacuate the Gulf of Mexico in the face of Tropical Storm Bonnie, officials said Thursday.

Government scientists are comfortable enough with the methods BP is using to monitor the well for possible leaks that they no longer will need to approve the shut-in every 24 hours as they have since soon after the flow of oil stopped last week, said retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, commander of the federal spill response.

At a news conference in Mobile, Ala., Allen said the decision was based on recommendations from Energy Secretary Steven Chu and a team of other scientists.

Allen said Thursday evening that many of the vessels will begin leaving the site, including two rigs drilling relief wells that will plug the Macondo permanently.

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Four of the nation's largest oil companies said Wednesday they immediately will commit $1 billion to set up a rapid oil spill response system to deal with deep-water blowouts in the Gulf of Mexico.

Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips and Shell said the system of underwater capture devices and surface containment vessels, similar to what BP is using now to control its Macondo well spill, will be designed to capture up to 100,000 barrels of oil a day before it spills into the sea from wells sitting in water as deep as 10,000 feet.

Unlike BP's system, much of which was designed and built on the fly to handle the unfolding Gulf disaster, the new equipment will be pre-engineered, constructed, tested and on standby for immediate deployment in case of an emergency. As part of the initiative, the four firms will form a nonprofit company called the Marine Well Containment Co. to operate and maintain the system.

The Gulf of Mexico received at least a temporary reprieve from the spewing Macondo oil well Thursday afternoon when BP stopped the flow for the first time since the well blew out and triggered one of the nation's worst-ever environmental disasters.

After several delays, BP said it closed the last line on the newly installed containment cap at 2:25 p.m. Thursday and began monitoring pressure gauges to test the integrity of the well casing below the sea floor.

Since April 20, when the Macondo well blew out, destroying the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and killing 11 crew members, as much as 185 million gallons of oil have spilled from the well, according to official estimates.

"As you can imagine it felt very good not to see any oil going into the Gulf of Mexico," said BP's Kent Wells in a technical briefing with reporters. "Where I'm holding back my emotion is that we're just starting the test, and I don't want to create a false sense of excitement."