BP faces civil, criminal investigation, Obama to end "cozy relationship"

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However, nearly a month has passed ever since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig off the U.S. Gulf Coast blew up, killing 11 people, and the failure of the well's blow-out preventer has caused a leak that is allowing 5000 barrels of oil to flow out into the Gulf per day.

The senators questioned the "proven equipment and technology" to respond to the spill, adding that "much of the response and implementation of spill control technologies appears to be taking place on an ad hoc basis." BP recently had issued a statement describing its methods to contain the oil "involve significant uncertainties because they have not been tested in these conditions before."

The senators, in a letter, have urged Holder to investigate and assess BP's actions "with respect to civil and criminal laws related to false statements to the federal government" as well as "any federal law or regulation that may have been violated in connection with issues surrounding the spill."

This letter was published as it emerged that Chris Oynes, the associate director of the Offshore Energy and Minerals management Program within the MMS at the Interior Department, who was charged with overseeing BP's offshore drilling, has resigned from his post.

According to Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, MMS has been "a corrupt agency with an extensive history of mismanagement."

"This wasn't the doing of one, single person, but rather the culmination of a bureaucratic breakdown. Removing one person might be a start, but MMS is in need of an exhaustive overhaul and comprehensive reform," Issa said.

Meanwhile, President Obama, who last week criticized executives from BP, rig owner Transocean Ltd. and rig operator Halliburton Co. for blaming each other during an appearance before a Senate panel, has decided to have a presidential commission investigate the cause of the rig explosion and has vowed to crack down on MMS's 'cozy relationship" with the oil industry. The Obama administration has already announced plans to split the minerals service, the agency overseeing offshore oil drilling, into separate agencies with safety and revenue-collecting duties.

President Obama has also vowed changes to a regime under which drilling permits were "too often issued based on little more than assurances of safety from the oil companies." Interior Secretary Ken Salazar faces grilling on Tuesday as he will appear before a hearing on Capitol Hill to answer, among other things, how more than 100 seismic surveys and 300 drilling permits have been issued under his watch without the prior environmental consideration that is required under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act.

Shares of BP were trading 1.06 percent up at 535.50 pence at 12.57pm (BST) on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday. BP’s market cap has fallen by $30 billion since April 20.