(see map below for oil spill location in th gulf from www.boatus.com)

Seven weeks after the explosion that wrecked BP`s Deepwater Horizon oil rig, neither the company nor the U.S. government has come up with an effective response.

Even government estimates of the size of the spill vary by over 100% from 22 million to 47 million gallons of oil. Even the low estimate is twice the amount spilled by the Exxon Valdez in Alaska in 1989. The high estimate is almost five times the size of that spill.

As the map (right) shows, the slick is very large and oil is coming ashore across most of the north-central coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

BP`s Chief Executive Tony Hayward told an English newspaper that it was `an entirely fair criticism` to say the company had not been fully prepared for the oil leak that followed the accident on the company`s Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Hayward called it `low-probability, high-impact` incident.

In the Gulf, events reinforced Hayward`s point as `fix` after `fix` has failed to put a significant dent in the amount of oil being released by the damaged well.

The latest attempt, a cap on the well, is currently believed to be collecting about 10% of the oil being released. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the U.S. government`s incident commander said, `Progress is being made, but we need to caution against overoptimism.`

Even if the cap`s collection rate is improved, it is not a final solution. Two relief wells currently being drilled are designed to relieve the pressure on the damaged well so that it can be permanently closed. Current estimates are that they will be done in August.

President Obama, who has made three trips to the area, hasn`t been able to contribute much to the efforts being made by BP.

As bad as the situation is, it could get far worse if significant amounts of the oil get into the Gulf loop current or a major tropical storm strikes the area.

The Gulf loop current could carry the oil to the tip of Florida where it would meet the Gulf Stream and be carried along the U.S. Atlantic coast.

One or more large tropical storms or hurricanes could drive much larger quantities of oil ashore and damage or delay the relief well drilling operations.

Coosavalleynews.com

President Obama, who has made three trips to the area, hasn`t been able to contribute much to the efforts being made by BP.

As bad as the situation is, it could get far worse if significant amounts of the oil get into the Gulf loop current or a major tropical storm strikes the area.

The Gulf loop current could carry the oil to the tip of Florida where it would meet the Gulf Stream and be carried along the U.S. Atlantic coast.

One or more large tropical storms or hurricanes could drive much larger quantities of oil ashore and damage or delay the relief well drilling operations.