The visit comes ahead of a rare White House prime-time televised address on the subject on Tuesday, marking a significant elevation in the Obama administration's strategy on the oil crisis.

Meanwhile the White House said that Obama ordered BP to set up an escrow account to pay legitimate claims and let an independent panel oversee the process.

"The president is going down to the Gulf on Monday and Tuesday to the states he hasn't visited -- Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. When he returns he will address the nation from the White House," top Obama aide David Axelrod said Sunday.

Obama visited hard-hit Louisiana on his first three trips.

"We're at a kind of inflection point in this saga. He wants to lay out the steps we'll take from here to get through this crisis," Axelrod, Obama's senior adviser, told NBC television's "Meet The Press" program.

US presidents usually reserve the formal setting of a prime-time televised address from the White House for moments of national crises, including wars and disasters.

Obama has yet to give an Oval Office address to the American people, though it had not been decided whether he will appear at the presidential desk flanked by US flags when he speaks at 8:00 pm Tuesday (0000 GMT Wednesday).

Obama's address and the more stringent demands of BP suggest a concerted effort to be more aggressive on the disaster as angry Americans are confronted by disturbing images of oiled birds and toxic crude spoiling fragile wetlands.

BP has failed several times to seal the flow, and a first relief well that could provide a permanent solution is not expected to be ready until the second week of August at the earliest.

A containment system is siphoning up some 15,000 barrels -- 630,000 gallons -- of oil a day to the surface via a mile-long pipe, but estimates indicate the same amount of crude is probably still leaking into the Gulf.

The US Coast Guard ordered BP to fine-tune plans to increase the capacity of its "top hat" oil capture system amid fears of a time lapse while oil processing vessels are rotated.

Businesses in the Gulf region, ranging from fishing to tourism, are suffering. Some workers are finding temporary employment with BP to help in the clean-up effort, but longer-term prospects for many are bleak.

Obama is to insist at a high-stakes White House meeting Wednesday with BP bosses that the firm establish an independently administered fund to pay out claims related to what is now the nation's worst ever environmental disaster.

"We want to set up a structure and protect the integrity of that fund so people get what they are due," Axelrod said. "And we want to make sure that money is independently managed so that they won't be slow-walked on these claims."

Thad Allen, the former Coast Guard chief who is now leading the US response to the crisis, said he expected under-fire BP CEO Tony Hayward to join chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg at the meeting with Obama and administration officials.

BP is expected to suspend its next dividend payment to shareholders, due on July 27, in a bid to quell growing anger in the US, where many accuse it of deliberately underestimating the flow rate to try to reduce its liability, which is worked out by the barrel.

US officials have suggested BP should also have to reimburse all companies and individuals that have lost business or income due to the six-month moratorium on deep sea drilling imposed by Obama last month.

Analysts estimate that including the cleanup, compensation claims, government penalties, and a host of civil lawsuits, BP's total bill from the catastrophe could reach 100 billion dollars.

In London, BP said Monday that its costs to date of sorting out the oil spill had risen to about 1.6 billion dollars (1.3 billion euros).

That figure includes "the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs," BP said in a statement.

The firm's share price has fallen more than 40 percent since the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers. The rig sank two days later, fracturing the pipe now spewing the oil.

In the past 55 days, oil has reached 68.2 miles (110 kilometers) of shoreline along the Gulf Coast, including parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. About one-third of the Gulf's fishing waters remain off-limits due to health concerns.

earlier related report
Obama goes on the offensive to stem oil fallout
Washington (AFP) June 13, 2010 - The White House said Sunday that US President Barack Obama will address the nation on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on his return from a two-day visit to the stricken region.

The Obama administration also stepped up the pressure on BP, demanding it set up an escrow account to pay individuals and businesses hit by the disaster and calling for an independent panel to oversee the claims process.

Obama's televised address at 8:00 pm on Tuesday (0000 GMT Wednesday) marks a significant elevation of his strategy on the oil crisis and a sign of the gravity of the situation as the US faces its worst ever environmental disaster.

"The president is going down to the Gulf on Monday and Tuesday to the states he hasn't visited -- Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. When he returns he will address the nation from the White House," top aide David Axelrod said.

"We're at a kind of inflection point in this saga. He wants to lay out the steps we'll take from here to get through this crisis," Axelrod, Obama's senior adviser, told NBC television's "Meet The Press" program.

Obama's address and the more stringent demands of BP suggest a concerted effort to be more aggressive on the disaster as angry Americans are confronted by disturbing images of oiled birds and toxic crude spoiling fragile wetlands.

BP has failed several times to seal the flow and the first relief well that could provide a permanent solution is not predicted to be ready until the second week of August at the earliest.

A containment system is siphoning up some 15,000 barrels of oil a day to the surface via a mile-long pipe but flow estimates indicate the same amount of crude could still being leaking into the Gulf and feeding the giant spill.

The US Coast Guard has given BP until Sunday to fine-tune plans to increase the capacity of its "top hat" oil capture system amid fears of a time lapse while oil processing vessels are rotated.

Businesses in the Gulf region, ranging from fishing to tourism, are suffering. Some workers are finding temporary employment with BP to help in the clean-up effort, but longer-term prospects are bleak.

Axelrod said Obama will insist in a high-stakes White House meeting Wednesday with BP bosses that the firm establish an independently administered escrow fund to pay out claims.

"We want to make sure that money is escrowed for the legitimate claims that are going to be made and are being made by businesses down in the Gulf, people who have been damaged by this.

"And we want to make sure that money is independently managed so that they won't be slow-walked on these claims."

Thad Allen, the former coast guard chief leading the US response to the crisis, said he expected under fire BP CEO Tony Hayward to join chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg at the meeting with Obama and administration officials.

The meeting follows Obama's fourth and longest visit to the region since the disaster and his returning address to an American nation that will vote in vital mid-term elections in just five months time.

It is comparatively rare for presidents to use the formal setting of a prime-time televised address from the White House. Such addresses are often reserved for moments of national crises, including wars and disasters.

Obama has yet to give an Oval Office address to the American people, though it has not been decided yet whether he will appear at the presidential desk flanked by US flags in that setting on Tuesday evening.

In a 30-minute phone call Saturday, Obama reassured British Prime Minister David Cameron amid fears in London that political pressure in Washington could force BP into bankruptcy or make it the target of a takeover.

The company is expected to announce that it will suspend its next dividend payment to shareholders, due on July 27, in a bid to quell some of the growing anger at the energy giant in the US.

Earlier this week, US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the company's liability should include reimbursing all companies hit by a six-month moratorium on deep sea drilling.

Analysts estimate that BP's total liability for the environmental catastrophe, including the cleanup, compensation claims, government penalties, and a host of civil lawsuits, could reach 30 to 100 billion dollars.

The firm's share price has fallen more than 40 percent since the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers. The rig sank two days later, fracturing the pipe that is now spewing the oil.

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