Reactions to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Reactions to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Reactions to the "Deepwater Horizon" oil spill from various officials and interested parties ranged from blame and outrage at the damage caused by the spill, to calls for greater accountability on the part of the U.S. government and BP, including new legislation dealing with preventative security and clean-up improvements. On 30 April 2010, President Barack Obama ordered the federal government to delay issuing new offshore drilling leases until a thorough review determined whether more safety systems were needed and authorized teams to investigate 29 oil rigs in the Gulf in an effort to
Volume and extent of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill collected before it could enter the Gulf waters. In its permit to drill the well, BP estimated the worst-case flow at . Immediately after the explosion the USCG did not estimate any oil leaking from the sunken rig or from the well. On 24 April, USCG Rear Admiral Mary Landry announced that a damaged wellhead was indeed leaking. She stated that "the leak was a new discovery but could have begun when the offshore platform sank . . . two days after the initial explosion." Initial estimates by USCG and BP officials, based on remotely operated vehicles as well as