The under-pressure boss of BP today insisted the beleaguered oil giant had reached a “turning point” despite production falling as it continues to sell off billions of dollars worth of assets in the wake of last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.

BP reported further progress yesterday in stemming the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but new evidence showed part of the slick could be swept to Florida’s beaches and sensitive coral reefs.

AS Americans anxiously waited for a slick in the Gulf of Mexico to wash up along the coast, globules of oil were already falling to the bottom of the sea, where they threatened virtually every link in the ocean food chain, from plankton to fish on dinner tables everywhere.