Fears Gulf oil could strike Florida beaches

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.

The British energy giant, which has been struggling to contain a month-long environmental disaster, said a tube inserted into a leaking oil pipe is now sucking up about 40% of the crude, twice as much as a day earlier.

The company said its “riser insertion tube tool” is carrying about 2,000 barrels a day of oil up to the Discoverer Enterprise drill ship on the surface via a mile-long pipe.