Oil Spill, Gulf Oil Spill | featured news

Executives from other major oil companies turned on BP Plc and defended their own drilling practices during a congressional hearing on Tuesday as they sought to stave off new government regulations in the wake of BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The  cost of cleaning the Gulf oil spill and compensating its victims won’t be known for years.

Geese and ducks were coated with oil and a park was closed as officials started a cleanup effort expect to last weeks.

Oil from the worst spill in U.S. history could soon end up at gas stations, construction sites and even grocery stores .

Environmentalists plan to stage a worldwide protest against BP on Saturday as the petroleum giant takes hits from politicians and Gulf residents.

Government scientists say as many as 40,000 barrels of oil per day have been gushing into the gulf. BP has said the blown-out well will not be plugged before August.

Government scientists said Thursday that as many as 40,000 barrels of oil have been flowing daily from the blown-out BP well, doubling earlier estimates and greatly expanding the scope of what is already the largest spill in U.S.

US President Barack Obama is due to meet relatives of the 11 workers killed in an explosion on the BP oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico.A presidential spokesman said he would express his condolences to relatives.

BP shares sunk Thursday in London as U.S. politicians pressed the British oil company to halt its dividend payments and fork out greater compensation for American workers.

"According to serious studies, the middle-term survival rate of oil-soaked birds is under 1 percent," says Silvia Gaus, a biologist at the Wattenmeer National Park along the North Sea in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein.

Is President Obama bowing to criticism that he hasn't shown enough emotion and outrage about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill? In an interview with the "Today" show's Matt Lauer on Tuesday morning, the president offered his bluntest response yet about the disaster, telling Lauer he's been talking to experts about "whose ass to kick" when it comes to responsibility for the mess.