TIMELINE-Gulf of Mexico oil spill

 June 17 (Reuters) - Millions of gallons/liters of oil have
poured into the Gulf of Mexico since an April 20 blast on the
Deepwater Horizon rig triggered the huge spill.

 Below is a timeline of the spill and its impact.

 April 20, 2010 - Explosion and fire on Transocean Ltd's
drilling rig Deepwater Horizon licensed to BP; 11 workers are
killed. The rig was drilling in BP's Macondo project 42 miles
(68 km) southeast of Venice, Louisiana, beneath about 5,000
feet (1,525 metres) of water and 13,000 feet (4 km) under the
seabed.

 April 22 - The Deepwater Horizon rig, valued at more than
$560 million, sinks and a 5-mile-long (8 km) oil slick forms.

 April 25 - Efforts to activate the well's blowout preventer
fail.

 April 29 - U.S. President Barack Obama pledges "every
single available resource," including the U.S. military, to
contain the spreading spill and says BP is responsible for the
cleanup.

 April 30 - An Obama aide says no drilling will be allowed
in new areas, as the president had recently proposed, until the
cause of the Deepwater Horizon accident is known.

 -- BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward says the company takes
full responsibility and will pay all legitimate claims and the
cost of the cleanup.

 May 2 - Obama visits the Gulf Coast. U.S. officials close
areas affected by the spill to fishing for 10 days. BP starts
drilling a relief well alongside the failed well, a process
that may take two to three months to complete.

 May 7 - An attempt to place a containment dome over the
spewing well fails when the device is rendered useless by
frozen hydrocarbons that clogged it.

 May 9 - BP says it might try to plug the undersea leak by
pumping materials such as shredded tires and golf balls into
the well at high pressure, a method called a "junk shot."

 May 11/12 - Executives from BP, Transocean and Halliburton
appear at congressional hearings in Washington. The executives
blame each other's companies.

 May 14 - Obama slams companies involved in the spill,
criticizing them for a "ridiculous spectacle" of publicly
trading blame over the accident in his sternest comments yet.

 May 16 - BP inserts a tube into the leaking riser pile of
the well and captures some oil and gas.

 May 19 - The first heavy oil from the spill hits fragile
Louisiana marshlands. Part of the slick enters a powerful
current that could carry it to the Florida Keys and beyond.

 May 26 - A "top kill" maneuver starts, involving pumping
drilling mud and other material into the well shaft to try to
stifle the flow.

 May 28 - Obama tours the Louisiana coast, saying, "I am the
president and the buck stops with me."

 -- BP CEO Tony Hayward flies over the Gulf.

 May 29 - BP says the complex "top kill" maneuver to plug
the well has failed, crushing hopes for a quick end to the
largest oil spill in U.S. history on its 40th day.

 June 1 - BP shares plunge 17 percent in London trading,
wiping $23 billion off its market value, on news the latest
attempt to plug the well has failed.

 -- U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says the Justice
Department has launched a criminal and civil investigation into
the rig explosion and the spill.

 June 2 - BP tries another capping strategy but has
difficulty cutting off a leaking riser pipe.

 -- U.S. authorities expand fishing restrictions to cover 37
percent of U.S. federal waters in the Gulf.

 June 4 - Obama, on his third trip to the region, warns BP
against skimping on compensation to residents and businesses.

 June 7 - BP, which says it has now spent $1.25 billion on
the spill, sees shares gain on news of the progress in
containing the leak.

 June 8 - Obama says he wants to know "whose ass to kick"
over the spill, adding to the pressure on BP.

 -- U.S. weather forecasters give their first confirmation
that some of the oil leaking has lingered beneath the surface
rather than rising to the top.

 June 9 - U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says BP must
pay the salaries of thousands of workers laid off by a
moratorium on drilling, at a congressional hearing.

 June 10 - The White House says that Obama has invited BP
Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg to the White House on June 16 to
discuss the spill.

 -- In his first comments, Prime Minister David Cameron says
Britain is ready to help BP deal with the spill.

 -- U.S. scientists double their estimates of the amount of
oil gushing from the well, saying between 20,000 and 40,000
barrels (840,000 and 1.7 million gallons/3.2 million and 6.4
million litres) of oil flowed from the well before June 3.

 June 11 - Supportive comments from Britain lift BP's shares
in London gaining 6.4 percent. However the rise does not mend
damage done to BP shares -- the company is worth 70 billion
pounds ($102 billion) against over 120 billion pounds in
April.

 June 14 - Obama, on his fourth trip to the Gulf, says he
will press BP executives at a White House meeting on June 16 to
deal "justly, fairly and promptly" with damage claims.

 -- Under intense pressure, BP unveils a new plan to vastly
boost the amount of oil it is siphoning off.

 -- Two U.S. lawmakers release a letter to BP CEO Hayward
saying: "It appears that BP repeatedly chose risky procedures
in order to reduce costs and save time and made minimal efforts
to contain the added risk."

 June 15 - Lawmakers summon top executives from Exxon Mobil,
Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell and BP.

 -- Obama says in his first televised speech from the Oval
Office in the White House: "But make no mistake:  we will fight
this spill with everything we've got for as long it takes.  We
will make BP pay for the damage their company has caused.  And
we will do whatever's necessary to help the Gulf Coast and its
people recover from this tragedy."

 June 16 - BP agrees to set up a $20 billion fund for damage
claims from the oil spill and suspends dividend payments to its
shareholders and pay $100 million to workers idled by the
six-month moratorium on deep-sea drilling.

 June 17 - BP CEO Tony Hayward faces the wrath of U.S.
lawmakers as he appears before a congressional hearing. He
apologized for the spill and said everything was being done to
stop it. Members of Congress accused BP of cutting corners and
ignoring warnings for the sake of profit.
(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)

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