US criminal probe into oil spill ongoing: US official

WASHINGTON: The US Justice Department is still investigating the causes of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill to determine whether to bring criminal charges, US attorney general Eric Holder said on Sunday.

"The investigation is ongoing. We are in the process of accumulating documents, talking to witnesses on both the criminal side and the civil side," he told CBS "Face the Nation."

But he said there was no timetable yet on whether any charges would be brought against British energy giant BP which leased the Deepwater Horizon rig from Transocean.

The drilling platform exploded in April unleashing the nation's worst ever environmental disaster, with thousands of barrels of crude gushing into the seas every day.