Energy giant BP said today it was now able to siphon off about 40 per cent of the oil gushing from a ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico but has not been able to stop the leak.
The news comes as President Barack Obama is expected to announce today the creation of a commission to investigate the spill.
The presidential commission will investigate issues related to the spill and its aftermath, including rig safety and regulatory regimes at the local, state and federal levels. It will also look into the federal government's oversight role, environmental protections and the Minerals Management Service, the Interior Department agency that has been heavily criticised for regulatory lapses.
A mile-long tube is now siphoning off oil at the rate of 2,000 barrels per day, about 40 per cent of the 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons/795,000 litres) BP has estimated to be leaking daily. Initially, half that amount was being suctioned off to a collection vessel at the surface.
BP's progress in capturing more oil through a tube inserted by undersea robots into the mangled "riser" pipe of the well came amid new evidence that a powerful sea current in the Gulf was pushing the crude closer to the US Eastern seaboard.
BP estimated the bill for the clean-up at $625 million, $175 million higher than a few days ago, with analysts saying costs could reach into the billions. The spill has threatened economic and environmental calamity to the US Gulf Coast.
The US Coast Guard said yesterday state park rangers at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park on the island of Key West, Florida, found tar balls washing ashore throughout the day, marking the first appearance of oil debris reported in Florida since BP's deepsea well rupture on April 20th.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has previously said the southern edge of the spill could make its way into the so-called Loop Current current, which could carry oil eastward toward the Florida Keys, out of the Gulf and up the East Coast of the United States.
However, officials have stressed the spill has so far had minimal impact on the shoreline and wildlife along the Gulf Coast, but oil debris and tar balls had been reported earlier in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.
Reuters