US President Barack Obama to visit oil-hit Louisiana

US President Barack Obama is to visit the Louisiana coast to view first-hand the damage wrought by what is said to be the largest oil spill in US history.

BP is continuing to pump heavy mud into the damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico as part of the high-risk "top kill" procedure to block the flow of oil.

BP's chief executive Tony Hayward said the outcome would not be clear for another 48 hours.

BP said its response costs to the huge oil spill had risen to $930m (£640m).

Mr Hayward told US media that the "top kill" process - untested before at this depth of 5,000ft (1.5km) - was "going pretty well according to plan".

He said that BP engineers had successfully completed a second phase - pumping in debris, known as a "junk shot" - which would next allow them to pump in more heavy-weight mud.

If the mud works in stopping the flow, BP can then pour cement to seal the well for good.

"Clearly I'm as anxious as everyone in America is to get this thing done," Mr Hayward said.
Responsibility

Mr Obama's trip later on Friday will be his second to the Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on 20 April, killing 11 workers.

He will tour affected areas to try to reassure Americans he remains in charge of the clean-up operation, correspondents say.

First, alongside Coast Guard Adm Thad Allen, Mr Obama is to inspect a beach guarded by a protective boom, the White House said.

Then he is to visit a US Coast Guard station in Grand Isle, Louisiana, where he will meet Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Florida Governor Charlie Crist, Louisiana Senators Mary Landrieu and David Vitter and others.

The thick crude oil has already permeated more than 110km (70 miles) of Louisiana's coastline, threatening fragile wetlands and putting the vital fishing industry at risk.
Map

New estimates from a panel of US scientists said at least 12,000 barrels (504,000 gallons) were leaking into the Gulf every day, far exceeding the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.

Speaking at the White House on Thursday, President Obama vowed to hold BP accountable for the "horrific disaster".

He stressed that his administration, and not BP, was in charge.

But he admitted the government did not have the technology to deal with the damaged oil well, meaning that Washington must rely on BP.
ANALYSIS
Continue reading the main story
Mark Mardell
BBC News, Washington

When President Barack Obama arrives in Louisiana, he'll find a state where people are increasingly angry, not necessarily at him, but at the way they watched almost in slow motion as the oil has come ashore despite all the frantic efforts to stop it.

Still it's the spill deep within the ocean that may do the most damage to the vital fishing and shrimping industry.

The president has said he wants the people who live along the Gulf of Mexico to know that this "horrible catastrophe" is the first thing he faces when he wakes in the morning and the last thing he thinks of at night, and that he will make sure BP pays every last dime owed to people.

The president suggested that BP had hidden the true size of the spill, which government experts say is at least twice as big as the company claimed, perhaps four times as much - making it the biggest spill in US history.
Mardell: Obama takes the stand Q&A: Drilling restrictions From shrimp fisher to oil-collector

He has suggested that in future there might be teams and equipment ready to deal with a deep water leak paid for by oil companies but under US government control.

The president's comments came as questions were increasingly being asked about whether he had been sufficiently engaged in handling the disaster, says the BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington.

In a shake-up of the offshore oil industry, Mr Obama suspended test drilling on 33 rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as halting exploratory deepwater drilling for another six months.

In addition, he cancelled the sale of some offshore leases off the coasts of Alaska and Virginia.

Correspondents say the move marks a shift in policy since March, when President Obama gave the go-ahead to widen the scope for offshore drilling in order to reduce dependency on oil imports.

Meanwhile, the head of the Minerals Management Service (MMS), which oversees drilling operations, has resigned.

Elizabeth Birnbaum and the MMS have come under fire from lawmakers over lax oversight of drilling operations.

The president blasted the "scandalously close relationship" between oil companies and regulators, and said officials granting exploration permits would no longer be responsible as well for ensuring safety.

The US government on Thursday approved part of an ambitious plan to build barrier islands to stop oil from coming ashore in Louisiana.

US officials warned the coming hurricane season could be one of the worst on record.