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HOUSTON — Vessels contending with the BP Plc oil spill were returning to the site on Saturday as a Gulf of Mexico storm diminished, but work to permanently plug the well may not resume for a week, a U.S. government spokesman said.

While a rig drilling a relief well was returning to the spill site after moving out of the storm's path, it could take a week for it to resume operations because it has to be reconnected to the well, said Robert Donaldson, a spokesman for the U.S. government's joint incident command.

"The Development Driller 3 has started to move back out because the storm is not as fierce as we thought it would be," Donaldson said.

BP has said it expects the permanently plug the leak in mid-August.

That rig and other vessels were moved on Friday to avoid Tropical Storm Bonnie. But the storm has weakened into a tropical depression and appeared less likely to gain strength as it moved into the U.S. oil patch in the Gulf.

Other vessels that had been operating at the site were readying for a return as well, a spokeswoman for BP said.

Two ships, including the one that operates the subsea robots that provide a live video feed of the wellhead, were left at the site, Donaldson said.

BP's Macondo well ruptured on April 20, sinking a drilling rig and killing 11 workers. The accident caused the worst U.S. oil spill, but the company was able to stop crude from flowing from the damaged well by fitting it with a tight-sealing cap..