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'Frustrated' Obama Meets on Gulf Oil Spill

   VOA News 14 May 2010

   U.S. President Barack Obama is meeting with his advisers Friday at the
   White  House  to  discuss  what  more  can be done to stop the massive
   underwater oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
   Administration officials describe the president as "deeply frustrated"
   that  the company in charge of stopping the leak, BP, has failed to do
   so  in  the  three weeks since an oil rig explosion caused the well to
   start gushing oil.
   Mr. Obama will make a statement after the discussions.
   Meanwhile, a researcher at Purdue University estimates that the amount
   of  oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico is many times greater than the
   5,000 barrels a day estimated by BP.
   Associate  professor  Steve Wereley says calculations he made based on
   watching  video  of  the leak suggest as much as 70,000 barrels of oil
   are leaking daily.  BP stands by its estimate.
   BP  says  its  calculation  was  made  in  consultation  with the U.S.
   National   Oceanic   and  Atmospheric  Administration.  BP  and  other
   researchers  say  there  is no way to make accurate calculations based
   strictly on the available video of the leak.
   BP  officials  meanwhile  say  they  are  preparing  to launch another
   attempt  to  plug  the  ruptured  well,  by  inserting a tube into the
   ruptured  pipe  on  the  ocean floor.  That would allow the oil to be
   pumped to a tanker on the water's surface.
   BP  says  another  option  for  sealing  the well, a small containment
   chamber  known  as  a  "top  hat" dome because of its shape, remains a
   possibility  if  the  insertion  tube  does  not  work. Engineers have
   offered no timeframe for the insertion tube procedure.
   BP  reported  Thursday that the cost of containing and cleaning up the
   massive oil spill has reached $450 million.
   Emergency  response officials say more than 526 vessels are working to
   contain  the massive spill, and 14 staging areas have been established
   to   protect   shorelines   in   the  southern  states  of  Louisiana,
   Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
   The  spill  began  after an oil rig exploded April 20 off the coast of
   Louisiana  and  sank two days later.  Eleven workers were killed as a
   result of the initial explosion.

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   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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