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In Washington, President Barack Obama criticized executives from BP and two other companies for blaming each other for the catastrophe.

"This is a responsibility that all of us share," Obama said. "The oil companies share it. The manufacturers of this equipment share it. The agencies in the federal government in charge of oversight share that responsibility. I will not tolerate more finger-pointing or irresponsibility."

"I did not appreciate what I considered to be a ridiculous spectacle during the congressional hearings into this matter," the president said. "You had executives of BP and Transocean and Halliburton falling over each other to point the finger of blame at somebody else. The American people could not have been impressed with that display, and I certainly wasn't."

Obama said the federal government also was taking responsibility for its role. "For too long, for a decade or more, there's been a cozy relationship between the oil companies and the federal agency that permits them to drill," Obama said. "It seems as if permits were too often issued based on little more than assurances of safety from the oil companies.

"That cannot and will not happen anymore. To borrow an old phrase, we will trust, but we will verify. So I've asked Secretary Salazar to conduct a top-to-bottom reform of the Minerals Management Service.

In addition, Obama said, the administration has ordered immediate inspections of all deepwater operations in the Gulf of Mexico, and no drilling permits will be issued until a 30-day safety-and-environmental review is completed.

Obama also announced a new examination of the environmental procedures for oil and gas exploration and development.

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