A catastrophic explosion at the energy giant’s Macondo well in the Gulf on April 2010 killed 11 men and led to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
BP did not make clear Thursday what the source of the new sheen was, but told The Associated Press in London it was not found near “any existing BP operations.” A sheen is a shiny coating that floats on the surface of the water, and could come from leaked or spilled oil.
London-based BP spokeswoman Sheila Williams said that “there is a lot of sheen in the Gulf of Mexico area” and that the substance did not necessarily come from a BP site or well.