In the six weeks BP's well has spewed oil into the ocean, Hayward has made a name for himself as the 'Bumbler from BP'

Barack Obama put the survival of BP's Tony Hayward in even deeper jeopardy yesterday, saying he would have sacked the chief executive for downplaying the catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico.

In the six weeks BP's well has spewed oil into the ocean, Hayward has made a name for himself as the "Bumbler from BP" for clumsy comments, leading the US president to say that he would have sacked Hayward if he had been "working for me". Obama had been asked by NBC to respond to Hayward's claim, made in an interview with the Guardian last month, that "the amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume". BP's comment that the "Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean" was widely criticised in the US for underplaying the scale of the crisis.

The president was also challenged over Hayward's posting of a message on Facebook saying "I want my life back", a quip deemed offensive to those oil workers who lost their lives in the explosion. Obama responded: "He wouldn't be working for me after any of those statements."

Obama strongly defended his role in dealing with the crisis, including his three visits to the region since the spill began.

"I was down there a month ago before most of these talking heads were even paying attention to the Gulf," Obama said, adding he has talked to a variety of "experts" on the oil spill, as well as having listened to the local fishermen.

"I don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar; we talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick," the president said.

Hayward will move further into the spotlight after he was invited to appear before the House of Representatives' energy committee in Washington next Thursday for a hearing focused on BP's role in the spill.

The tough talk from Obama today appears part of a concerted strategy to deflect growing public anger at the ongoing catastrophe in the region, especially from the president's Democratic base.

However, Obama yesterday lifted restrictions on offshore oil and gas exploration in shallow waters, an unpopular move among his fellow Democrats.

He also pushed back against Republicans, announcing he would use his veto powers to overturn a vote in the Senate on Thursday that would strip his administration of powers to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.