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Rep. Edward Markey on Monday challenged the assertion by oil giant BP's chief executive that no underwater oil plumes have formed because of the Gulf of Mexico spill.

In a letter to BP, Markey, D-Massachusetts, said scientific evidence showed that such plumes have formed, and he asked for BP CEO Tony Hayward to provide evidence to back up Hayward's claim Sunday that the oil had gone to the surface.

On Sunday, Markey, who heads the House Energy and Environment subcommittee, accused BP of issuing false statements about the spill.

"BP in this instance means 'Blind to Plumes,' " Markey said in a statement Monday.

There was no immediate response from BP.

Markey's letter to BP said "the confirmation of the presence of large quantities of oil sub-surface could help to inform clean-up and response efforts, and it is vital that there is unfettered access to all relevant data or analysis."

The letter noted that University of South Florida researchers recently reported finding a 22-mile-long plume of dispersed oil.

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On Sunday, the Obama administration questioned BP's oil spill numbers.

On NBC's "Meet the Press," Carol Browner, Obama's assistant on energy and climate change, said BP may have had an ulterior motive for underestimating the amount of oil leaking.

"BP has a financial interest in these numbers. They will pay a penalty based on the number of barrels per day," she said.

BP had originally said that about 5,000 barrels of oil per day were leaking.

The latest estimate, Browner said, is between 12,000 and 19,000 barrels per day.

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