Washington, May 02: The US government has shut down two offshore production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico amid increasing concerns over the growing oil slick.
The country’s Minerals Management Service said on Saturday that the platforms had been closed as a safety precaution.
Some 6.2 million cubic feet a day of natural gas production are involved, the service added.
High winds and rough seas hampered efforts to prevent the slick from wreaking enormous environmental and economic damage on the fragile Louisiana coast.
So far, the disaster has prompted Louisiana, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi to declare states of emergency.
Meanwhile, the White House announced President Barack Obama would travel to the region on Sunday morning to survey efforts to contain the spill.
The crisis began on April 20 after a British Petroleum platform, Deepwater Horizon, exploded and sank two days later, killing 11 workers.
——-Agencies