BP seeks way to stop spill when 'top kill' fails

COVINGTON, La. - BP has failed in its latest attempt to plug the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico with mud and cement.

BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles said the company determined the "top kill" method had failed after studying it for three days.

The method involved pumping heavy drilling mud into a crippled well 5,000 feet underwater.

"We have not been able to stop the flow," Suttles said. "We have made the decision to move on to the next option."

It was the latest setback for the company trying to stop the crude from further fouling waters, wildlife and marshland.

President Barack Obama says the continued flow of oil into the Gulf is "as enraging as it is heartbreaking."

The spill is the worst in U.S. history and has dumped between 18 million and 40 million gallons into the Gulf, according to government estimates.

BP's top executive had put the chances of success for the top kill at 60 to 70 percent, but officials had cautioned that it had never been done 5,000 feet below the sea.

BP says it's already preparing for the next attempt to stop the leak. Under the new plan, BP would cut off the damaged riser from which the oil is leaking and cap it with a containment valve.

Since the top kill began Wednesday, BP has pumped huge amounts of mud into the well at a rate of up to 2,700 gallons per minute, but it's unclear how much is staying there. A robotic camera on the seafloor appeared to show mud escaping at various times during the operation.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, addressing reporters in Denver, said officials were evaluating the next step.

He said the relief well was the ultimate solution, but something was needed to stop the spill until then. "We're doing everything with the best minds in the world to make sure that happens," he said.

The oil spill began after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in April, killing 11 people.

It's the worst spill in U.S. history - exceeding even the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 off the Alaska coast - dumping between 18 million and 40 million gallons into the Gulf, according to government estimates.

Experts and other observers were growing increasingly skeptical that BP would be able to plug the well.

BP company says the best way to stop the flow of oil is by drilling relief wells, but those won't be completed until August.