President Barack Obama ordered all 33 deepwater oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico to halt drilling and extended a moratorium on new deepwater wells, as BP temporarily suspended its latest effort to contain the US’s biggest oil spill.
Declaring that BP was now operating under his administration’s orders, Mr Obama used a rare televised press conference to try to assert control over the “tragedy” in the Gulf, as public frustration over the five-week-long disaster reaches boiling point.
Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer for exploration and production, said on Thursday afternoon that the company had delayed its “top kill” operation to check pressure. However, it restarted the procedure again late last night in an attempt to stem what scientists have declared as officially the biggest spill in US waters in history. It should be known today whether the operation has worked.