The company that owned the drilling rig that exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico last month has hired lobbyists and public relations experts with extensive ties to Capitol Hill to help it cope with multiple congressional investigations.

Transocean Ltd. has brought on lobbying firm Capitol Hill Consulting Group and the public relations firm FD. The smallest of the companies tied to the Gulf disaster, Transocean leased its Deepwater Horizon rig to oil behemoth BP PLC. An April 20 blast on that deepwater rig triggered the massive oil spill.

"Transocean has supplemented its internal team with necessary external resources so that the company can be responsive," Transocean said in an e-mail. "The company is fully cooperating with numerous public and private inquiries."

Former Rep. Bill Brewster (D-Okla.) heads the lobbying firm selected by Transocean. Brewster sat on the Ways and Means and Transportation and Infrastructure committees while in the House from 1991 to 1997, and he worked on energy issues, forming the congressional Oil and Gas Forum. He also was a co-founder of the conservative Democratic group Blue Dog Coalition.

Transocean's new lobbyists also include Jack Victory, who previously worked as senior adviser to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas). Victory also worked for former Reps. Jim Gibbons (R-Nev.) and Richard Pombo (R-Calif.)

The firm will be working with Transocean on issues that include oil and gas exploration, offshore drilling and mobile drilling units, according to the lobbying registration.

Transocean brought on FD to help respond to questions. The head of that group's U.S. energy and environment section, Brian Kennedy, previously worked for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and was deputy chief of staff for the House Resources Committee. Kennedy co-founded the Washington office of Institute for Energy Research, a not-for-profit conducting research and analysis on regulation of energy markets.

Four Senate committees -- Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Energy and Natural Resources, Commerce, and Environment and Public Works -- are probing aspects of the oil spill.

In addition, President Obama last week also chastised BP, Halliburton Co. and Transocean officials for how they pointed fingers at one another at hearings. "The American people could not have been impressed by that display, and I certainly wasn't," he said. "I will not tolerate more finger-pointing or irresponsibility."

A lobbying registration was filed last week, but under lobbying disclosure rules Capitol Hill Consulting Group could have been working for Transocean for several weeks.

Transocean last had a lobbying firm working for it in 2002 on tax issues.

Neither Brewster nor Victory with the lobbying firm returned e-mails seeking comment.