BLIND BAY, La, May 21 (Reuters) – Energy giant BP, accused
by the U.S. government of failing to share information in a
timely fashion about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, was forging
ahead on Friday with efforts to contain the gushing crude.

The pressure to act is huge. TV images of oil sloshing into
Louisiana’s marshes has underscored the gravity of the
situation and raised public concern about the catastrophe,
keeping it high up on the political agenda in Washington.

/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government Thursday accused energy giant BP of falling short in the information it has provided about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, in a clear sign of Washington’s growing frustration with BP’s handling of the spiraling environmental disaster.

“In responding to this oil spill, it is critical that all actions be conducted in a transparent manner, with all data and information related to the spill readily available to the United States government and the American people,” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said in a letter.

/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government on Thursday accused energy giant BP of falling short in the information it has provided about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, in a clear sign of Washington’s growing frustration with BP’s handling of the spiralling environmental disaster.

“In responding to this oil spill, it is critical that all actions be conducted in a transparent manner, with all data and information related to the spill readily available to the United States government and the American people,” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said in a letter.

By Matthew Bigg

VENICE, La. (Reuters) – The U.S. government will independently verify how much oil has leaked into the Gulf of Mexico from a ruptured undersea well owned by BP, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said on Thursday.

“We’re not depending on what BP is telling us,” Salazar said on CNN in one of a series of television appearances to address the ecological disaster unfolding in the Gulf Coast.

, May 20 (Reuters) – Heavy oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill threatened Louisiana marshlands on Thursday after washing ashore for the first time since a BP-operated rig exploded a month ago, sparking ecological disaster.

Calling it a "day that we have all been fearing," Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said on Wednesday that heavy oil — not simply tar balls or sheen — had entered the state’s prized wetlands.

"It’s already here but we know more is coming," he said.

The marshes are the nurseries for shrimp, oysters, crabs and fish that make Louisiana the leading producer of commercial seafood in the continental United States. A large no-fishing zone in Gulf waters seen as affected by the spill has been imposed. [ID:nN18155760]

Energy giant BP Plc <BP.L> scrambled to contain crude from the gushing undersea well, which ruptured after an April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 workers.

The company said it is now siphoning about 3,000 barrels (126,000 gallons/477,000 liters) a day of oil, from what it has estimated was a 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons/795,000 liters) a day gusher.

The company said it could begin injecting mud into the well as early as Sunday in a bid to permanently plug the leak.

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TAKE A LOOK on the spill [ID:nSPILL]

INSIDER TV: link.reuters.com/wuw64k

Graphic: link.reuters.com/ken64k

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Adding another name to the group of companies connected to the doomed rig, Schlumberger Ltd <SLB.N> said it had a crew on the Deepwater Horizon that departed only hours before the explosion and fire that engulfed it. [ID:nN19270822]

The world’s largest oilfield services company had not previously revealed its work on the Horizon.

FALL-OUT INCREASES

The discovery of heavy oil in marshlands at the southern tip of Louisiana’s peninsula showed that authorities lacked the capacity to track undersea oil effectively, marine conservation biologist Rick Steiner said.

It also called into question a containment effort that focused on oil on the surface of the Gulf, Steiner said.

"I am very confident that a lot of the oil that has come out has not surfaced yet and the government can’t track subsurface plumes," said Steiner, a retired professor at the University of Alaska who has just spent a week on the Gulf coast.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government’s top weather forecaster said a small portion of light sheen from the giant oil slick had entered the powerful ocean flow known as the Loop Current, which could carry the oil down to the Florida Keys, Cuba and up the U.S. East Coast.

Wildlife and environmental groups accused BP of holding back information on the real size and impact of the growing slick, and urged President Barack Obama to order a more direct federal government role in the spill response.

Obama plans to create a commission to investigate the cause of the spill, evaluate industry practices and study government oversight.

Fall-out in Washington increased. The U.S. Interior Department said on Wednesday its embattled Minerals Management Service will be broken up into three separate divisions, as part of an effort to restructure the way the department handles offshore energy production. [ID:nN19223644]

Top Democrats in the U.S. Senate urged Obama to order immediate, enhanced inspections of all offshore oil rigs and production platforms.

"Until we can ensure the safety of our offshore platforms, our nation’s coastlines will be threatened by the possibility of more man-made catastrophes," the letter said.

(Editing by Philip Barbara)

VENICE, Louisiana (Reuters) – The first heavy oil from a giant Gulf of Mexico spill sloshed ashore in fragile Louisiana marshlands on Wednesday and part of the mess entered a powerful current that could carry it to Florida and beyond.

The developments underscored the gravity of the situation as British energy giant BP Plc raced to capture more crude gushing from a ruptured well a mile beneath the surface. The spill is threatening an ecological and economic disaster along the U.S. Gulf Coast and beyond.

, May 19 (Reuters) – The first heavy oil from a
giant Gulf of Mexico spill sloshed ashore in fragile Louisiana
marshlands on Wednesday and part of the mess entered a powerful
current that could carry it to Florida and beyond.

The developments underscored the gravity of the situation
as British energy giant BP <BP.L> Plc raced to capture more
crude gushing from a ruptured well a mile (1.6 km) beneath the
surface. The spill is threatening an ecological and economic
disaster along the U.S. Gulf Coast and beyond.

BURAS, Louisiana (Reuters) – For thousands of fishermen whose livelihoods are threatened by an expanding oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, the offer of jobs by energy giant BP to help clean up the spill seemed like a lifeline.

But hope has already turned to disappointment for many in Louisiana and Alabama who complain that too few people are being selected. Some also say that out-of-state fishermen are taking advantage of a program designed specifically for locals.

, May 7 (Reuters) – BP Plc <BP.L> engineers using undersea robots maneuvered a massive metal chamber to within 200 feet (60 metres) of a gushing ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, working to contain a leak that threatens an environmental catastrophe on U.S. shores.

The four-story structure, BP’s only short-term hope of controlling the spewing crude, is designed to fit over the biggest of two leaks nearly one mile (1.6 km) below the water and funnel the escaping oil to a surface tanker.

But the technique has never been tried at that depth, where engineers guiding remotely operated vehicles battle darkness, currents and intense undersea pressure. BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward warned there was no certainty of success.

"The pressures and temperatures are very different here, so we cannot be confident that it will work," Hayward told CNN.

He said the dome was being lowered "very carefully" on to the leak, and the next three to four days would be spent making the connections to try to pump crude to the surface.

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TAKE A LOOK on the spill [ID:nSPILL]

Breakingviews column [ID:nLDE6432HV]

INSIDER TV: link.reuters.com/gen92k

Graphic: link.reuters.com/xeh23k

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Light oil washed ashore for the first time on a chain of islands off the Louisiana coast on Thursday as the slick expanded. At least 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons/795,000 litres) have poured into the Gulf each day since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded two weeks ago, killing 11 workers.

BP says the containment dome could be operating by Monday. The company is drilling a relief well to halt the leak that could take two or three months to complete.

Engineers have also considered pumping heavy fluids into the top of the failed blowout preventer to plug the leaking well in a technique called "top kill." But that would be "a couple of weeks away," officials said, as BP tries to fix the blowout preventer with underwater robots.

BP has been under heavy pressure from Washington to meet its responsibilities in what could be the largest oil spill in U.S. history. After meeting with BP executives in Houston, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the company and its partners made "some very major mistakes." [ID:nN06140663]

"Its life is very much on the line here," Salazar told reporters. "Are they doing everything that they can possibly do? I hope that they are. I want to make sure that is in fact happening."

Salazar reiterated the U.S. government will issue no new offshore drilling permits until an inter-agency panel gives a safety review to President Barack Obama by May 28. In the meantime, existing drilling will continue.

SHARES FALL

Hayward said the company would meet its obligations to contain and clean up the spill, as well as compensate businesses for their resulting losses. He said a $75 million legal cap on its liabilities under federal law, which some U.S. lawmakers want to raise, would not be a limit.

"Where there are legitimate claims for business interruption, then we will be good for them," he said. "We have said that it is inevitable that the $75 million limit has no relevance in this case."

BP shares fell, dropping 2.3 percent in London on Friday, in line with the fall in the broader market. The STOXX Europe 600 Oil and Gas index <.SXEP> was down 3.8 percent.

The world’s biggest reinsurer, Munich Re <MUVGn.DE>, warned payouts for natural catastrophe claims and the U.S. oil spill had placed its 2010 earnings goal in jeopardy. Munich’s nearest competitor, Swiss Re <RUKN.VX>, said the spill’s cost to the entire industry would be $1.5 billion to $3.5 billion. [ID:nLDE64526K]

The spill threatens an economic and ecological disaster on popular tourist beaches, wildlife refuges and fertile fishing grounds in four states. It has forced Obama to rethink plans to open more waters to offshore drilling.

A sheen of oil washed ashore on much of the Chandeleur Islands, barrier islands that are part of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge, in the first confirmation of the oil slick hitting land, a U.S. response team spokeswoman said.

Some oiled birds, including pelicans and a gannet, had been found, Jeff Dauzat of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality said.

M.A. Sanjayan, chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy, flew over the Chandeleur Islands and described seeing "ribbons and ribbons" of orange-colored oil stretching for miles and penetrating the numerous small bays, channels and inlets of the islands.

From the air, he said, the oil containment operations appeared almost futile compared with the enormity of the slick.

"We saw over a dozen skimmers working one slick," he said. "As the boats would approach (the oil), it would just give way right in front of them, from the wake. So they looked like toys, like Q-tips, trying to mop up a very large area."

The heavier oil remains farther off the coast for now, closer to the leak site. But the Mississippi Delta, Breton Sound and Chandeleur Sound are in danger of shoreline contacts over the next few days, officials said.

‘BEAUTIFUL BEACHES’

Kevin Begos, a seafood industry spokesman in Apalachicola, Florida, said the spill has affected the marketplace, even though there’s no oil anywhere nearby yet. He said seafood dealers in his area have seen orders drop considerably.

"Right now, it’s mostly fear, because oil hasn’t come here yet," Begos said.

Alabama tourism officials planned an ad campaign to let tourists know the beaches were still clean and encourage them not to cancel their vacation plans.

"The beaches are beautiful, the weather is great and the water is clean. The oil is way offshore," Alabama real estate agent Bobby Hornsby said in a message to customers.

About 250 boats deployed protective booms and used dispersants to break up the thick oil on Friday as crews took advantage of another day of calm weather to fight the slick.

By late Saturday or Sunday morning, winds in the Gulf region could pick up to 15 to 20 knots (17 to 23 mph/27 to 37 kph), a National Weather Service meteorologist said. That may make efforts to battle the slick more difficult.

Coast Guard and port officials said there had been no impact so far on ship traffic, and made preparations to clean vessels quickly en route to port to keep traffic moving — a move that could eventually cause delays. [ID:nN07189284]

Dozens of Louisiana fishermen met with a marine toxicologist in a pizza restaurant in Venice late on Thursday and many said they were worried about the spill’s impact.

"BP needs to look at more than the bottom line," said Kindra, who declined to give her last name for fear her husband, a fisherman, could be excluded from a temporary jobs program the company is offering. (Additional reporting by Matt Daily in New York; Tom Bergin in London; Anna Driver and Chris Baltimore in Houston; Tom Brown and Pascal Fletcher in Miami; Michael Peltier in Pensacola; Steve Gorman and Brian Snyder in Mobile; Scott Malone in Boston; and Richard Cowan in Washington; writing by John Whitesides; editing by Eric Beech)

By Matthew Bigg

VENICE, La. (Reuters) – BP Plc engineers were expected to lower a massive metal containment chamber onto a ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday in an effort to stem the widening slick.

If all goes as planned, the four-story-tall structure will redirect the flow of crude from nearly 1 mile (1.6 km) below the water and pump it up to the surface. But BP officials warned it will be no easy task.