A yacht outing put embattled BP chief Tony Hayward in more hot water Saturday, unleashing fresh criticism of his handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and overshadowing modest progress in containing the disaster.

The White House and environmental groups were quick to lash out at Hayward's latest mishap after he was sighted at the JP Morgan Asset Management Round The Island Race, which sees hundreds of yachts race around the Isle of Wight, off England's south coast.

"Well, to quote Tony Hayward, he's got his life back, as he would say," White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said, referencing the BP boss's now-notorious slip.

"And I think we can all conclude that Tony Hayward is not going to have a second career in PR (public relations) consulting," he told ABC's "This Week" in excerpts of an interview to be broadcast Sunday.

"This has just been part of a long line of PR gaffes and mistakes."

Hayward attended the boat race in his native Britain a day after BP announced he was handing over daily control of his firm's spill response to managing director Bob Dudley, an American.

The CEO was spotted by photographers on his yacht, "Bob," his 270,000-dollar Farr 52 racing yacht.

BP raced to defend Hayward's vacation outing with his son in Britain.

"Still, no matter where he is, he is always in touch with what is happening within BP," company spokesman John Curry told AFP.

Spokesman Robert Wine noted this was Hayward's "first non-working day since this (spill) started."

Earlier this week, US lawmakers skewered Hayward for failing to answer questions about the origins of the massive gusher that has spoiled once-pristine beaches and shorelines, killed wildlife and put a big dent in the Gulf Coast's multi-billion-dollar fishing industry.

Environmental campaigners in Britain sharply criticized Hayward's decision to attend the race.

Greenpeace's Charlie Kronick said his actions were "insulting" and the equivalent of "rubbing salt into the wounds" of those affected by the worst environmental disaster in US history.

"Personally, I don't think that the bloke is particularly competent from the results that he has delivered," said Hugh Walding, a spokesman for Friends of the Earth on the Isle of Wight.

Republican Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, one of the four Gulf Coast states sullied by the brownish tides of thick oily mix, called Hayward's yacht outing "the height of arrogance."

"I can tell you that yacht ought to be here skimming and cleaning up a lot of the oil," he told Fox News television.

The yacht finished the race fourth in its class, according to the event's official website.

The latest controversy swirling around Hayward capped a nightmare week for BP, which has its public image in tatters after its shares slumped on the stock market, its credit worthiness was slashed and its top executives were hauled to the White House.

Earlier, the firm said its main vessel capturing oil from the leak restarted after a 10-hour shutdown due to a blocked vent and lightning storm concerns.

Wine said the Discoverer Enterprise, a ship siphoning 15,000 to 18,000 barrels of oil per day directly from the containment cap atop the ruptured well, shut down late Friday due to a blocked flame arrester, a device intended to stop the crude from combusting.

On Friday, BP recovered a total of some 24,500 barrels of oil, a slightly lower figure than the day before because of the shutdown.

The firm said it had collected its largest volume so far — nearly 30,000 barrels of oil — in a 24-hour period ending late Friday, marginally exceeding their maximum projected production capacity.

The joint information center for the disaster said BP is improving its recovery from the well and "continues to capture some oil and burn gas at the surface using its containment dome technique."

In addition to the Discoverer Enterprise, which is linked by the riser pipe to the wellhead, a second recovery vessel, the Q4000, continues to flare off additional oil and gas being brought up through the system, the statement said.

No permanent solution to the devastating leak is expected until mid-August, when two relief wells are due to be completed before heavy drilling fluids can be pumped into the existing well to drown the flow and then plug it for good with cement.

One drilling rig has extended the first relief well to a depth of approximately 11,000 feet below the sea; a second well is at around 5,000 feet below the sea floor.

earlier related report

Battered BP boss hands over oil spill duties to American
New Orleans, Louisiana (AFP) June 19, 2010 –

Embattled BP boss Tony Hayward has handed off the daily management of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, as the British energy firm was assailed by its partner for "reckless" conduct.

BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said chief executive Hayward, a Briton, was handing over the running of the containment efforts to another top BP official, Bob Dudley, an American.

"Right after the explosion (Hayward) went out there and he has been leading the response ever since," Svanberg told Sky News. "I think everyone believed it to be something we could deal with faster, then he would come back.

"And now he's been around for eight weeks, he's now handing over the daily operations to Bob Dudley," he told the British broadcaster.

The handover had been announced earlier this month, but no timing had been given. The announcement came a day after Hayward was pilloried by US lawmakers investigating the April explosion that destroyed a BP-leased rig off the southern US state of Louisiana.

BP also reported progress on drilling the first of two relief wells to permanently plug the massive leak spewing tens of thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Kent Wells, a BP senior vice president, said the first relief well was now 200 feet (61 meters) from the ruptured well as it heads towards the bottom of the sea floor.

But officials cautioned that despite the relief well's proximity to the existing well and the fact that BP is some 11 days ahead of schedule, the firm still needs until early August to finish the work before heavy drilling fluids can be pumped into the existing well.

Meanwhile, a co-owner with BP in the well, Anadarko Petroleum, said BP should pay the costs of cleanup because of its "reckless" conduct, prompting a testy exchange between the two companies.

In a statement, Anadarko chairman and chief executive Jim Hackett said: "The mounting evidence clearly demonstrates that this tragedy was preventable and the direct result of BP's reckless decisions and actions."

"BP's behavior and actions likely represent gross negligence or willful misconduct and thus affect the obligations of the parties under the operating agreement," the Anadarko chief said.

BP said in a separate statement that it "strongly disagrees with these allegations" from Anadarko and "will not allow the allegations to diminish its commitment to the Gulf Coast region."

BP said that Anadarko "is refusing to accept responsibility for oil spill removal costs and damages" despite a written operating agreement stating that "the parties would share the costs of operations, including the cost to clean up any spill" from the well.

The news capped a nightmare week for the British energy giant that has left its public image in tatters, seen its shares rocked on the stock market and its top executives hauled to the White House.

To the frustration and anger of a House of Representatives panel, Hayward repeatedly refused to be drawn on the causes of the explosion and whether there had been any negligence on BP's part, prompting lawmakers' ridicule and scorn.

US experts believe between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels of oil are spewing into the Gulf every day from the ruptured wellhead, and creeping ashore in four southern US states, shutting down the fishing industry and sullying tourist beaches.

BP executives agreed after talks with President Barack Obama this week to set up a 20-billion-dollar escrow fund to help pay for the clean-up and compensation claims from Gulf residents facing economic ruin.

In a sign of some progress, officials said Friday BP was now containing more of the spill as it works towards to capping it for good.

"In the 24-hour period ending at midnight last night, we were able to recover 25,000 barrels of oil," Thad Allen, the US Coast Guard admiral coordinating the US response, told reporters.

But in more bad news for BP, a top credit agency slashed its creditworthiness because of the "worsening impact" of the disaster on its finances.

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