Time for 'scaleback' in cleanup: incoming BP boss

BP's incoming chief executive says it's time for a "scaleback" of the massive effort to clean up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but he adds that the British oil giant's commitment to make things right is as strong as ever.

Tens of thousands of people - many of them idled fishermen - have been involved in the cleanup, but more than two weeks after the leak was stopped there is relatively little oil on the surface, leaving less work for oil skimmers to do.

Bob Dudley, who heads BP's oil spill recovery effort and will take over as chief executive in October, said it's "not too soon for a scaleback" in the cleanup, and in areas where there is no oil, "you probably don't need to see people in hazmat suits on the beach."

He added, however, that there is "no pullback" in BP's commitment to clean up the spill.

Dudley was in Biloxi to announce that former Federal Emergency Management Agency chief James Lee Witt will be supporting BP's Gulf restoration work.

With the northern Gulf of Mexico largely off-limits to fishing, BP's cleanup programme has been the only thing keeping many fishermen working.

Losing those jobs would make the region all the more dependent on the cheques BP has been writing to compensate fishermen and others who have lost income because of BP's offshore oil spill, the worst in US history.

Many people have complained about long waits and other problems in processing claims, and Dudley conceded that BP lacks expertise in handling claims. He said the company hopes to turn that work over to an independent administrator soon.

"It's because of that lack of competence on our part ... that we want to bring in a professional," Dudley said.

Suggestions that the environmental effects of the spill have been overblown have increased as oil has disappeared from the water's surface, though how much of the oil remains underwater is a mystery.

Dudley rejected efforts to downplay the spill's impact, saying: "Anyone who thinks this wasn't a catastrophe must be far away from it."

BP is hiring Witt, FEMA director under President Bill Clinton, and his public safety and crisis management consulting firm. BP did not say how much Witt would be paid.

Witt said he wants to set up teams along the Gulf to work with BP to address long-term restoration and people's needs.

"Our hope is that we can do it as fast as we can," Witt said. "I've seen the anguish and the pain that people have suffered after disaster events. I have seen communities come back better than before."

The gusher set off by an April 20 oil rig explosion spewed between 356 million litres and 697 million litres into the Gulf before a temporary cap stopped the flow July 15.

A procedure intended to ease the job of plugging the blown-out well for good could start as early as the weekend, according to retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the federal government's oil-spill response chief.

The so-called static kill can begin when crews finish work drilling the relief well 80km offshore that is needed for a permanent fix.

The static kill, which involves pumping heavy mud into the busted well from the top, is on track for completion some time next week. Then comes the bottom kill, where the relief well will be used to pump in mud and cement from the bottom; that process will take days or weeks, depending on the effectiveness of the static kill.