“The fact that Steven Chu selected Steve Koonin, BP’s chief scientist, to be his under secretary could predispose them to think that they could maybe negotiate with BP, could be more like partners regarding the oil cleanup,” said Jennifer Washburn, the author of a coming report by the Center for American Progress called “Big Oil Goes to College,” which examines the BP-Berkeley venture. “It makes it more likely for them to see BP as a legitimate partner in handling the cleanup operation.

Image Before they joined the Department of Energy, Steven Chu, left, and Steven E. Koonin. Credit... Steve McConnell/U.C. Berkeley

“Unfortunately,” Ms. Washburn added, “what people are questioning, with good reason, is whether the government has been too soft on BP.”

Added John M. Simpson of Consumer Watchdog: “From what I’ve seen, the Energy Department’s response has been less than rapid to this oil spill. This whole thing just underscores that corporate interests have created, over time, these relationships that give them unfair access to policy makers.”

Ms. Mueller, the Energy Department spokeswoman, said that the accusation that the agency reacted slowly to the spill was unfair, and that 150 people at national laboratories had been working on it.

Public anger is mounting at both BP, which says it will try again on Wednesday to plug the spill using a method called top kill, and at Mr. Obama, who announced a major expansion of offshore oil drilling in March before first tending to what Mr. Obama himself described two weeks ago as an often cozy relationship between government regulators and oil companies.

On Monday, BP announced another $500 million grant, this one to study the impact of the spill on the marine and coastal environment, with the first award to go to Louisiana State University. An independent panel will decide which institutions will receive the rest of the money, the company said in a news release.

A White House official said Tuesday that the Energy Department “doesn’t have jurisdiction over the oil spill.” Dr. Chu — who, according to an Energy Department news release was in Houston on Tuesday “to continue engagement on strategies to stop the oil spill” — is “just volunteering because he’s one of the most brilliant scientists around,” the official said. Dr. Chu canceled a trip to China in order to deal with the crisis, the Energy Department said.