The Obama administration, meanwhile, has formally announced its suspension of oil exploration off the Alaskan coast as well as of lease sales in Virginia and the Gulf of Mexico. On Thursday, President Obama also said he would extend the moratorium on new deepwater drilling permits for six months and halt operations at thirty-three deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico. Obama is heading to the Gulf Coast today in his second visit to the region since the disaster began. In his first news conference in ten months, Obama defended his administration’s response to the spill.

President Obama: “As far as I’m concerned, BP is responsible for this horrific disaster, and we will hold them fully accountable on behalf of the United States as well as the people and communities victimized by this tragedy. We will demand that they pay every dime they owe for the damage they’ve done and the painful losses that they’ve caused. Those who think that we were either slow on our response or lacked urgency don’t know the facts. This has been our highest priority since this crisis occurred.”