Expanding deepwater drilling was BP's top priority

''This is a geological monster,'' the former president told CNN. ''That is one heck of an oil well. There's more oil down there than I ever dreamed.

''The navy could probably stop it, but there are all kinds of consequences that would have to be considered,'' Mr Clinton said. ''You could stop that well, but what else might you do that might upset the ecostructure of the Gulf?''

The navy would not need to use a nuclear weapon, Mr Clinton said, explaining that the navy could simply ''blow up the well and cover the leak with piles and piles and piles of rock and debris''.