Tar balls from the Gulf of Mexico spill have turned up on the Texas coast, expanding the oil slick's impact to all five Gulf states, officials said late Monday, as BP's disaster costs soared above three billion dollars. Meanwhile a giant Taiwanese ship deployed to boost the clean-up remained in testing, with initial results inconclusive because of choppy waters, but bad weather on the horizon threatened to further disrupt clean-up efforts. The A Whale tanker cruised near the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, but Bob Grantham, a spokesman for the super-skimmer's owner, TMT Shipping, said results were "inconclusive in light of the rough sea state we are encountering."

Tar balls seen on Texas coast as cost of US oil spill balloons. (2010, July 7). BusinessWorld, p. S1/9.