Obama to visit Gulf to check on oil spill

US: President Barack Obama has privately expressed his frustration to senior government officials that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has not been stopped and has made clear his feelings about it.

"Plug the damn hole," he has told them, according to aides.

Obama will make his second visit to the Gulf of Mexico area on Friday to assess the latest efforts to counter the worst U.S. environmental catastrophe since the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.

The Obama administration is under pressure to do more, but finds itself having to rely on BP Plc to carry the load in trying to plug the leak, gushing oil for 36 days.

The administration has been exerting heavy pressure on the giant oil company to stop the gusher. But officials have also recognized that only BP has the technology and expertise to handle it. "Well, to push BP out of the way would raise a question, to replace them with what?" said Thad Allen, in charge of the U.S. response to the disaster.

Frustrations are rising in the Gulf region with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal demanding more help from the federal government.

Republicans are joining the fray. Missouri Republican Representative Roy Blunt issued a statement on Tuesday calling on Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to approve more solutions to the Gulf Coast recovery, such as oil-absorbing booms and sand berms. "The American people expect better from the federal government," he said.

Administration efforts are concentrating to a large extent on trying to control the spread of the oil spill and protect Louisiana's fragile coastline.

"The administration has mobilized one of the largest responses to a catastrophic event in history, with more than 1,200 vessels in the region and more than 22,000 people, including many of the brightest scientific minds from both the public and private sector, working around the clock to mitigate the oil's impact," the White House said. WASHINGTON, Reuters