Officials also disputed a growing media narrative that political trauma over the worst environmental catastrophe in US history would derail Obama's second term agenda, even as doubts grew over his pending trip to Asia.

But as the White House fired its latest shots in the public relations battle over the spill, new video emerged of helpless sea birds coated in chocolate-colored oil, likely to further sharpen media anguish.

In a new attempt to demonstrate its engagement, the White House said that Obama would make his third trip to the Gulf of Mexico coast on Friday, and he appeared on CNN talk show "Larry King Live" to discuss the catastrophe.

"I would love to just spend a lot of my time venting and yelling at people, but that is not what I was hired to do -- my job is to solve this problem," Obama said, in an excerpt from the show.

"I am furious at this entire situation. This is something where somebody didn't think through the consequences of their actions," he added.

"Ultimately this isn't about me and how angry I am."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs had earlier hit back at a growing media frenzy, along the lines that the president should simply "do something" to stop the gushing undersea well clogging the Gulf with a thick slick of oil.

"If jumping up and down and screaming would fix a hole in the ocean, we'd have done that five or six weeks ago. We'd have done that the first night," Gibbs said.

Gibbs has been peppered with questions in recent days over whether Obama, known for a typically cool, intellectual demeanor, is doing enough to convey anger and dismay over the disaster in public appearances.

A bevy of normally sympathetic media commentators have also been tearing into Obama, frustrated at his "no drama" persona.

Popular comedy host John Stewart lampooned Obama this week for holding receptions for sports teams and other interest groups at the White House while insisting the spill was his "top priority."

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd also mocked Obama: "it's not a good narrative arc: The man who walked on water is now ensnared by a crisis under water," she wrote.

"Instead of buoyant, he seems put upon. Instead of the fairy dust of hopefulness, there's the bitter draught of helplessness."

Self-appointed purveyors of political wisdom and television pundits on round-the-clock cable television have also been piling on, adding up to a public relations headache for the White House.

The White House has at various times seemed to be trying to catch up to the momentum of developing news stories about the disaster, and struggled to portray an impression that Obama is in charge.

Obama has also risked looking impotent -- a dangerous political position for any president -- as the government does not possess either the expertise or equipment to plug the well that has been gushing since an explosion in April.

But Gibbs argued that not much would be gained by Obama going on television and throwing a tantrum.

"Pounding on a podium isn't going to fix a hole in the ocean," he said.

Republicans and other Obama critics have gleefully portrayed the crisis as Obama's "Hurricane Katrina" noting the terrible damage the killer storm wrought on the presidency of George W. Bush.

But Gibbs insisted that he was pushing forward his agenda, despite the media's fixation on his handling of the disaster.

Obama still expected the UN Security Council to vote on a top foreign policy priority -- toughened sanctions against Iran as early as next week, and was still focused on the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Gibbs said.

He argued that Obama was likely to sign a top priority financial reform bill into law by July, and was on track to get Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan confirmed as well.

"I appreciate that sometimes you guys have one story and you do one story a day," Gibbs told reporters, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"We don't necessarily deal with just one subject every day."

Gibbs said the president's trip to Indonesia and Australia in the middle of the month was still on the schedule, despite growing speculation it would be impossible for Obama to go abroad with the oil spill worsening.

The president has already cancelled the trip once, and risks annoying his hosts and damaging foreign policy priorities if he had to cry off again.

Asked on CNN if he still liked his job, despite all the challenges, Obama replied: "This is the best job on earth."

"It's an extraordinary privilege to be able to wake up every day and know that you have the opportunity to serve the American people and make their lives a little bit better," Obama said.

earlier related report
BP rocked by ratings downgrades over oil spill disaster
London (AFP) June 3, 2010 - British energy giant BP was hit Thursday by two ratings downgrades over the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster and admitted that it had been ill-prepared for the worst spill in US history.

International ratings agency Fitch said it had cut BP's long-term issuer default rating and senior unsecured rating from AA+ to AA and had placed them on negative watch, citing risks from the enormous oil spill.

"The downgrade of BP's ratings reflects Fitch's opinion that risks to both BP's business and financial profile continue to increase following the Deepwater Horizon accident in the US Gulf of Mexico," Fitch said.

"The company has so far repeatedly failed to stop the resultant oil leak and has instead reverted to containment methods that are yet to be fully implemented and are subject to potential weather related disruption."

Moody's Investor Service also lowered BP's long-term debt ratings, from Aa1 to Aa2 and placed them on review for further possible downgrade.

"Today's downgrade of BP's long-term debt ratings reflects Moody's expectation that the protracted oil spill ... caused by the explosion on the Transocean Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, will result in significant containment and clean-up costs as well as litigation costs," it said.

"Moody's expects these costs to weigh significantly on BP's free cash flow generating capacity and to constrain its ability to focus on other key areas of the company's business in the near to intermediate term."

In a further twist, Moody's will seek to ascertain how the disaster will affect BP's long-term US business prospects, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico where it is the biggest operator and producer.

It will also look to assess BP's future drilling and producing costs in the United States and elsewhere, as well as the group's business profile and future financial performance.

For the last six weeks, the BP has failed in all its attempts to cap or contain the leak since an April 20 explosion ripped through the BP-leased rig.

The White House announced Thursday that President Barack Obama will make his third trip to the Gulf of Mexico region on Friday to survey the latest efforts to respond to the massive oil spill there.

Earlier on Thursday, BP pledged 360 million dollars for the construction of six sand barriers to help keep oil from reaching Louisiana's fragile wetlands, in a move which will push its total costs to 1.35 billion dollars.

Fitch forecasts that BP's costs could reach between 2.0-3.0 billion dollars this year, depending on how much oil hits the US shoreline.

BP chief executive Tony Hayward admitted Thursday that the oil giant had not been prepared for a deep-water leak.

"What is undoubtedly true is that we did not have the tools you would want in your tool-kit," Hayward told the Financial Times newspaper.

Although he said BP had been "very successful" in keeping oil away from the coast, he accepted it was "an entirely fair criticism" to say the firm had not been fully prepared for a deep-water oil leak.

BP has meanwhile successfully cut an underwater wellpipe using hydraulic shears and will now work to place a containment vessel over the leak, the senior US official overseeing the response said Thursday.

The London-listed giant added that it will pay for the construction of six sand barriers to help keep oil from reaching fragile wetlands, supporting the US government's Louisiana barrier islands proposal.

US officials had ordered the company on Wednesday to pay for five more sand barriers in the Mississippi Delta to help minimize potential damage to vulnerable shorelines.

Fitch also warned Thursday that an official US investigation was another negative factor for BP, while it could still face more downgrades.

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