Even federal government admits frustration with BP

The federal government said Thursday that it is frustrated with BP PLC’s inability to shut off the ruptured well head in the Gulf of Mexico, the Associated Press reported Thursday.

5,000 barrels, or 210,000 gallons, of crude oil continue to leak every day from the Macondo well located about 50 miles south of Louisiana.

For days, BP, the operator of the sunken Transocean Deepwater Horizon rig, insisted it had everything under control. While new leaks were discovered and the oil slick grew larger than the square mileage of West Virginia, BP tried and failed to shut off the well with robot submarines.

Company Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles had the audacity to disagree with Coast Guard Read Adm—at the same Wednesday news conference—with her figures of 5,000 barrels leaking. Suttles insisted that she overstated the amount five-fold.

This morning he backtracked, admitting her figure was probably correct and finally welcomed the government’s offer to assist in the cleanup.

The oil is predicted to reach land by Friday night.

11 workers died in the Deepwater Horizon explosion April 20.

Source: Associated Press