BP chief under fire for time off in crisis

A yachting outing Saturday off the south coast of Britain has landed BP chief Tony Hayward in more hot water, unleashing fresh criticism of his handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and overshadowing the modest progress in containing the disaster.

A day after BP announced Hayward was handing over daily control of the energy giant's spill response to managing director Bob Dudley, he attended the JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race in his native Britain.

The White House and environmental groups were quick to lash out at Hayward's latest mishap.

"Well, to quote Tony Hayward, he's got his life back, as he would say," White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said in an interview taped for ABC's "This Week" broadcast Sunday, referring to the BP boss's notorious slip. "I think we can all conclude that Tony Hay-ward is not going to have a second career in PR (public relations) consulting."

BP raced to defend Hayward's vacation outing with his son by saying he was spending some time with his teenage son after devoting most of the past two months away from his family.

BP restarted its containment effort Saturday after the shutdown of one system for 10 hours to fix a technical issue and to let a storm pass, dragging down the recovered crude to 24,500 barrels per day, dwarfed by the 35,000-60,000 barrels the US Coast Guard says is pouring from the well.

It was the latest in a series of problems to bedevil attempts to halt the oil flow, now in its 62nd day.

The British energy giant has paid $104 million to Gulf Coast residents for the 64,000 claims it has received so far as a result of the oil spill.

"Our focus has been on getting money into the hands of fishermen, shrimpers, condo owners and others who have not been able to earn income due to the spill," Darryl Willis, of the BP claims team, said in a company statement.

The largest spill in US history threatens the coastal economies of four states, including hard-hit Louisiana, and Sunday, residents of Panama City, Florida, found more tar balls on the beach, which worries a state with an annual tourism industry worth $60 billion.

Agencies