WASHINGTON/PORT FOURCHON, La.,  (Reuters) – U.S.  President Barack Obama yesterday slammed the companies involved  in a massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill as BP Plc readied a  siphoning system to contain a growing environmental disaster.

Obama applied further pressure on the companies involved in  the unfolding drama, criticizing them for a “ridiculous  spectacle” of publicly trading blame over the accident in his  sternest comments yet on the situation.

With oil gushing unchecked from a blown-out well a mile  (1.6 km) under the Gulf of Mexico, London-based BP began work  on its latest short-term fix — a tube that undersea robots  will try to insert into a pipe to funnel oil to the surface.

The device could have begun siphoning oil late Friday, BP Chief  Operating Officer Doug Suttles said. The energy giant’s prior  attempt to contain the oil — a giant containment dome —  failed last week after the appearance of frozen hydrocarbons  rendered it useless.

The so-called riser insertion tool is “the best option, the  most likely option to combat” the frozen hydrocarbons, Suttles  said. If short-term efforts fail, it will take BP about 90 days  to permanently cap the leak with a relief well.

Shares of companies involved in the disaster, including BP,  have taken a big hit in recent days, but now other firms that  make a living in the Gulf of Mexico’s oil-rich waters are  starting to feel financial pain.