There is no danger of the storm reopening the plugged well, which caused the largest maritime oil spill of all time, but Allen said he had decided to suspend the drilling of the crucial relief well as a precaution.

After drilling 17,909 feet (5,426 meters) below sea level, the first relief well is about 30 feet from intercepting the stricken Macondo well, although the last bit is by far the trickiest and most time-consuming part.

"We would have been in a position to probably do it on Thursday or Friday of this week. That's now been pushed off two to three days," Allen said. "That would take it possibly to (the) Sunday through Tuesday window next week."

The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said there was a 70 percent chance of the weather system developing off the west coast of Florida becoming a tropical storm in the next 48 hours.

"We don't necessarily expect gale force winds but we expect the weather to be choppy enough out there," said Allen. "Terminating the drilling operations and holding still where they're at was the best thing to do until the front passed through."

BP performed a static kill operation last week that suppressed the gushing oil with mud and cemented in the main drill pipe.

But there is still concern that the area between the pipe and the outer well bore, known as the annulus, could contain hydrocarbons.

Once the relief well intercepts the Macondo well, scientists can check before sealing the bottom of the annulus once and for all with cement.

Allen said experts were discussing whether to use the extra time provided by the weather delay to conduct a pressure test that would provide more clues as to the state of the annulus.

Scientists say there are three options: oil is being forced up into the annulus under pressure from the reservoir, stagnant oil is lying at the bottom of the annulus, there is no oil or gas in the annulus.

"The more we know that to a virtual certainty before we drill into the well, the better off we are going to be in being able to adapt what we finally need to do to kill the well," explained Allen.

The well ruptured when the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig sank on April 22, two days after a massive explosion that killed 11 workers.

As operations continued in the Gulf of Mexico, the US government was reportedly closing in on a deal with BP to see its verbal commitment to fill up a 20-billion-dollar disaster fund become a legal obligation.

BP deposited on Monday a first installment of three billion dollars into a special bank account that will compensate thousands of Gulf residents and businesses hit by the largest maritime oil spill of all time.

But The Wall Street Journal reported that US President Barack Obama's administration was still holding discussions with the energy giant on how it intends to guarantee it will pay the remaining 17 billion dollars.

BP has said it plans to pay an additional two billion dollars into the fund in the fourth quarter, followed by further deposits of 1.25 billion each quarter after that until an original pledge of 20 billion dollars is met.

But the Obama administration is apparently concerned that BP might not live up to its word, especially if it runs into further financial or legal trouble, and is seeking to use BP's future revenues as collateral.

BP is the operator of 89 producing wells in the Gulf of Mexico and a stakeholder in 60 others and the report said it is considering using the revenue from some 400,000 barrels of oil a day from these as collateral.

Incoming BP CEO Bob Dudley and Lamar McKay, another top BP executive, were called Monday to the White House to meet with senior administration officials including Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and Allen.

"They impressed upon BP the importance of living up to their commitment to long term recovery, and underscored that the administration will remain vigilant in ensuring that promise is met," a White House statement said.

Obama has appointed prominent lawyer Kenneth Feinberg, who managed compensation claims by victims of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, to oversee the Gulf of Mexico disaster fund.

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