[Iran Press TV Latest] The massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is spreading out as the oil is still gushing out from the BP's damaged well 40 days after the explosion.
The so-called "top kill" method, which British Petroleum has employed since Wednesday, has proven to be a failure with the company's top executive Tony Hayward saying the chances to plug the leak are only 60 to 70 percent.
In the "top kill" method, heavy fluids and other material are pumped into the well shaft to stop the oil flow.
"The top kill operation continues and will carry on throughout the day today. We're not putting any time constraints on the operation - it will progress as operations teams deem appropriate through the day today and longer if necessary," company spokesman Tom Mueller said in an email on Saturday, refraining from setting a date for the completion of the operation, reported Reuters.
BP on Friday said that it needed until Sunday to say whether the top kill procedure is conclusive.
Officials say At least 6 million gallons of crude have entered the sea since the Deepwater Horizon rig blew up on April 20, killing 11 workers.
A US probe has put the leak at 12,000 to 25,000 barrels a day. But some experts believe the damaged well is gushing at least 70,000 barrels of oil a day. BP has admitted that the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is an "environmental catastrophe."
The US media have accused BP of denying access to photographers and trying to block information about the biggest oil spill in US history. |