Obama vows to make 'reckless' BP pay

US President Barack Obama has pledged to do all he could to contain the BP oil spill and help the Gulf Coast recover.

"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," Obama said in a televised address last night.

Obama also said he was happy to take ideas from Democrats and Republicans on broad energy legislation but said the United States could not afford to avoid changes in its energy use.

Yesterday, a team of US scientists upped their high-end estimate of the amount of crude oil flowing from BP's stricken Gulf of Mexico well by 50 percent, the second major upward revision in less than a week.

The scientists said the "most likely flow rate of oil today" ranges from 35,000 to 60,000 barrels per day.