NEW ORLEANS (AFP) - A newly-discovered leak means that 5,000 barrels of oil a day is spilling from a sunken rig into the Gulf of Mexico, five times the amount previously estimated.

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"They have discovered a new leak," Coast Guard Petty Officer Erik Swanson told AFP. "The unified command estimates the leak being up to 5,000 barrels a day."

Michael Abendhoff, a spokesman for BP, which leased the rig that collapsed after a deadly explosion last week, acknowledged the new leak but disputed the increase in oil being spilled into the gulf off the southern US coast.

"There is a bit of a difference of opinion," he told AFP.

"We found another leak. It was upstream of the two leaks that were already there. We believe the rate that is coming out is unchanged."

Swedish businessman Carl-Henric Svanberg, former chief executive of Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson, was appointed as the BP group's new chairman from 2010.

Last Updated (Thursday, 29 April 2010 09:32)

 
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