An Obama administration official revealed on Monday that a commission will be set up by the President to investigate the reason behind the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The presidential panel, which will be created via an executive order, will also assess oil industry practices, rig safety, and government oversight.

Going by the information forwarded by the official on the condition of anonymity, the panel will be similar to commission set up for investigating the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear accident and the 1986 space shuttle Challenger disaster.

The news of the presidential panel comes close on the heels of an earlier warning by Rear Adm Peter Neffenger, who told the US Senate that the leaking oil might possibly reach the southern Florida coastline.

Noting that the government was keeping a close watch on whether the oil would be swept up into the "loop current" moving around Florida, Neffenger added: "Currently it shows to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-50 miles from the southern edge of the spill."

Meanwhile, with an explosion in BP's Deepwater Horizon rig triggering the oil spill since April 20 and BP lately managing to funnel only about 1,000 barrels of oil daily - which is one-fifth of the estimated 5,000 barrels of spewing per day -, the company has reportedly decided to pump large amounts of mud into the damaged oil well so as to try an close it completely.