As the BP oil spill continues to spread through the Gulf of Mexico, scientists are looking at what impact the disaster could have on Bermuda.

Marcia McNutt, director of the United States Geological Survey, said that experts are looking at the possibility that the oil could reach the Atlantic.

"There is concern that this could eventually become not just a national issue, but an international incident by impacting other nations that are in the Caribbean, and perhaps even as far north as Bermuda," she said at a hearing of the Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies in Washington DC.

Ms McNutt said that oil had been tracked floating into currents that flow into the Atlantic, but so far no oil had remained in the stream for long.

And she told The Royal Gazette that despite the growing scale of the problem, oil reaching the Gulf Stream was a "low probability event".

Tony Knap, a senior scientist at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, said that even if the oil did reach the Gulf Stream, Bermuda is still likely to avoid any real damage.

"The heavy oil slick will still only be able to reach the Sargasso Sea as tar balls, so that is really the extent of what we need to worry about," he said.

"One of the things in our favour is that the Gulf Stream flows quite far to the north east of us.

"While it could work its way towards us through eddies, it would reach us as tar balls. The ocean is still a very big place."

For more than a month oil has leaked into the Gulf of Mexico following an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

After the failure of a "top kill" operation, which was hoped to stem the oil flow, experts now say that the leak may continue until August.

At least 20 million gallons of oil have already poured into the Gulf, with another 504,000 gallons leaking every day.

Dr Knap said: "One of the bigger concerns is that the oil will feed bacteria which will cause oxygen dead zones, which could devastate the marine life in the Gulf."

The oil pollution expert also dismissed the threat of oil rigs being constructed in the Atlantic as part of a plan proposed by President Barack Obama at the end of March.

As part of a long-term energy strategy, President Obama had suggested opening up a massive area of the East Coast, stretching from central Florida to Delaware, for drilling.

Dr. Knap said: "This is going to put everything on hold.

"It's always a two-sided issue. There's the government, who want these things to be safe and regulated, and then you have the people.

"I don't think anyone would support it right now. This is going to completely change the US energy policy."

This week, Dr. Knap will travel to Louisiana to meet with other scientists to discuss the oil spill and what strategies should be used to prevent further damage.

"We're going to work on finding out what needs to be done to control this problem," he said.