US scientists and lawmakers have stated that the leak in the seabed well which is spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico could be the worst oil spill in US history, which would eclipse even the Exxon Valdez incident in Alaska in 1989. They further stated that this could be economically and environmentally catastrophic for the US Gulf coast.
London based energy major British Petroleum (BP) plc has been under skepticism and accusations of concealing the actual extent of the spill. It has been facing growing frustration amongst the public and the federal government. In a statement issued by the energy giant, it said that its engineers were working in collaboration with the US government scientists to find out the actual magnitude of the leak. Efforts are still being made to control the oil from gushing out from the seabed well, although how it will be managed is still uncertain.
The US administration under President Obama has been pressurizing BP to do all it can to stop the leak as soon as possible. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs while addressing the reporters said that this was a disaster, the magnitude of which has not been witnessed before in the Gulf of Mexico and the administration is doing everything which is humanly and technologically possible to encounter that.
In an effort to control the oil-spill, BP will next try to pump heavy fluids and then follow it up with cement into the gushing well in order to stop the leak- the process is called “top kill”. BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said that the process is expected to start next week.
One of BPs solutions for containing the leak- a siphon tube 1 mile long which was inserted into the bigger of the two seabed leaks – was estimated to be capturing 2200 barrels of oils daily on Friday compared to the figure of 5000 barrels it had stated on Thursday.
BP has also been under the scanner as many scientists do not believe in the 5000 barrels per day estimate of the total amount of oil which has been leaking, terming it as ridiculously low and stating that it could be as high as 70,000 barrels per day.
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