British Petroleum has removed the blowout preventer that should have stopped oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico when a drilling rig exploded in April. The 300-tonne device will be examined as part of the inquiry into the leak of 206 million gallons of oil into the Gulf. The company said it had spent $8 billion in clean-up costs and compensation to Gulf residents. Meanwhile, BP have said a ban on offshore oil drilling may impede its ability to pay for the damage.The device failed when the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in April, killing 11 workers and touching off one of the worst environmental disasters in history. The company has pledged $20 billion to compensate Gulf residents harmed by the spill and has pledged millions more to study the spill's environmental impact and to promote tourism in the Gulf Coast states affected by the spill.