The White House has unveiled a new bill that will strengthen its ability to extract reparations from companies responsible for oil spills in the US.

The emergency legislation comes as president Barack Obama grows increasingly frustrated at BP's inability to stanch the flow of oil from the leak caused by an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig last month.

BP is working with specialist response agencies to tackle the spill, and many companies are engaged in an unprecedented training operation to ensure they have the manpower to respond swiftly.

The Deepwater Horizon was an ultra-deepwater rig in the Gulf of Mexico and BP has had considerable difficulty stopping the leak at its source, more than 2km below sea level.

As well as strengthening the federal government's ability to collect reparations, the new bill also contains legislation to increase the royalties collected on oil and gas by one cent per barrel of oil or equivalent.

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