BP abandons 'top kill' effort
Oil giant BP's latest effort to plug the broken wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico has failed, the company has said, adding it is time to "move on" and try other solutions. Speaking to reporters on Saturday Doug Suttles, the company's chief operating officer, said that after three days of blasting mud and other materials into the well, engineers had been unable to stop oil from spewing into the ocean. The so called "top kill" operation had pumped around 4.5 million litres of mud into the gushing well, but most of it escaped out of the well's damaged riser pipe. "After three full days of attempting top kill we have been unable to overcome the flow from the well so we now believe it's time move on to the next options," Suttles said. Outside The Beltway: BP Was Aware Of Problems At Deepwater Horizon Months Before Explosion. Thom Hartmann: Halliburton & BP - Is it time for the Corporate Death Penalty?