As the oil slick expands, however, other rigs in the Gulf could face this problem.
In the Gulf, the oil slick from the spill continued to move northeast, threatening Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
Workers on a nearby oil platform were evacuated by the US authorities on Monday after the oil slick came dangerously close.
In the meantime, the oil slick is continuing to move through the Mediterranean.
The resulting oil slick now has a circumference of about 600 miles (970km) and covers about 28, 600 sq miles (74, 100 sq km).
Because you kind of think of an oil slick coming in en masse, and you think about the Exxon Valdez.
Not quite as pretty as a butterfly, perhaps, but a lot more useful than an oil slick on a puddle.
Hamaydin says that the oil slick has hit more than 40 percent of Lebanon's beaches, affecting a fragile ecosystem and marine life.
In the Emporia, the level I saw, one tear revealed an oil slick, which a burst of fire ignited along with a persistent attacker.
The resulting oil slick shocked the French public, which vented its anger on TotalFina, a French oil company whose products the Erika was carrying.
While hardly any shipping, energy production or refining activities have been affected so far, the possibility increases as the oil slick stretches across the Gulf.
At present, the oil slick has not disrupted the main shipping lanes, but as the slick grows, much of the near-shore and coastline is at risk.
The 20-mile long oil slick reached the Cornish coast in a few days triggering a massive environmental catastrophe including the death of over 25, 000 sea birds.
Nineteen days after the wreck, its massive oil slick hit western Guernsey and in a reaction similar to the Cornish the authorities decided to act fast.
Environmental experts say birds and animals are more likely to escape a burning patch of water than an oil slick, although toxic fumes could endanger wildlife.
The chief executive of BP, Tony Hayward, has described the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico as a "transforming event" that would lead to "significant changes".
For the last few weeks we have all been watching with horror the spreading oil slick from the BP oil well disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
The main Southwest Passage into the New Orleans port remains open, though the three-day trajectory of the oil slick provided by NOAA suggests the waters around the passage could become tainted.
On May 2 federal authorities placed a 10-day fishing ban on the federal waters surrounding most of the oil slick (while states have jurisdiction over the waters close to their shores).
Israeli airstrikes against a Lebanese oil refinery created an oil slick that has polluted some 80 miles of Mediterranean coastline, leaving the filthy beaches deserted at the height of the tourist season.
The civil lawsuit was brought against the UK oil firm - as well as other companies involved in the accident, including rig-owner Transocean and cement-provider Halliburton - by the US Justice of Department and the US states affected by the oil slick.
BBC: BP: Scope of oil disaster internal probe 'had limitations'
As several ships trawled the debris site in the Atlantic, Brazil's defense minister said a 20-kilometer (12-mile) oil slick near where the plane, en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, went down indicated it probably did not break up until it hit the water.
CNN: Brazilian air force says debris was not from Air France crash
Last year, at Texas Motor Speedway, Michael McDowell hit an oil slick, slammed head first into the wall at a hundred and eighty miles per hour, flipped over and over, leaving much of his car in pieces on the track, and, when the vehicle finally came to a stop, crawled out of the wreckage and walked away.
Is that what we see as a potential here, or are we talking about a thin slick of oil that might come onto the shore?
In this recipe, Ms. Louis seasons the fish with a slick of olive oil and a sprinkle of fine sea salt.
WSJ: Jenn Louis's Rock-Salt-Roasted Salmon and Turnips | Slow Food Fast
She hid under cars in subterranean parking lots, her cheek resting in gritty-slick splatterings of motor oil.
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