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Investors back Hayward despite fallout

LONDON, June 9 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers said they discovered an underwater oil plume in the Gulf of Mexico as the U.S. president attacks the leadership of petroleum company BP.

Researchers for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said they discovered a separate oil plume underwater from the Gulf of Mexico spill.

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"Analysis which we now have in hand indicates there is definitely oil sub-surface," said NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco.

The BP-operated Deepwater Horizon oil platform caught fire and sank in April. Surface plumes have reached the U.S. south and threaten coastal lands in Florida.

U.S. President Barack Obama told NBC he would fire BP Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward if he could. Hayward faces a backlash for his perceived downplaying of the disaster.

BP investors, however, said Hayward was the best man for the job despite the backlash from the Gulf of Mexico disaster, the Financial Times reports.

"Throwing Hayward out now won't get President Obama off the company's back or make a jot of difference to public opinion of BP," one of the top investors was quoted in the Financial Times as saying.

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BP said it managed to collect about 45,000 barrels of oil from the spill using its latest containment effort.

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