In a high-stakes speech from the Oval Office, U.S. President Barack Obama defended his response to the country's worst environmental disaster and pledged to secure compensation for the stricken region's residents.

"Tomorrow, I will meet with the chairman of BP and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company's recklessness," Obama said in the roughly 18-minute speech.

"And this fund will not be controlled by BP," he added. "In order to ensure that all legitimate claims are paid out in a fair and timely manner, the account must and will be administered by an independent, third party."

The president announced he has also commissioned a long-term restoration plan for the Gulf region, which was hard-hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The prime-time address came eight weeks to the day after an offshore oil rig leased by BP exploded, killing 11 workers and spewing millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

The speech laid out Obama's plans and goals for the recovery efforts as he seeks to convince the skeptical American public he can help them bounce back in the wake of the disaster.

The president vowed to clean up the destructive spill and provide for those living in the Gulf region -- and urged the country to move away from fossil fuels, towards clean energy.

"The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now," he said. "Now is the moment for this generation to embark on a national mission to unleash American innovation and seize control of our own destiny."

Obama introduced a handful of changes to the oil industry he said would help prevent similar catastrophes in the future.

He has established a national commission that will look into the causes of the spill and draft recommendations for additional safety and environmental standards.

The president has also issued a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling.

"I know this creates difficulty for the people who work on these rigs, but for the sake of their safety, and for the sake of the entire region, we need to know the facts before we allow deepwater drilling to continue."

In the months ahead, the administration will consider a variety of solutions, Obama said. "But the one approach I will not accept is inaction," he said. "The one answer I will not settle for is the idea that this challenge is too big and too difficult to meet."

Meanwhile, the struggle to contain the spill continues. Federal authorities gave the British oil giant permission Monday to pump oil from the broken wellhead to a ship on the surface, where it would then be burned off.

BP said it hopes to collect as much as 8.3 million litres of oil daily by the end of June, through various containment measures.

The company's efforts were hampered Tuesday when a bolt of lightning hit the ship siphoning oil from the well, setting off a fire that put the work on hold. The fire was quickly put out, and no one was hurt.

The new approach to contain the oil was unveiled as Obama made his fourth visit to the stricken area. During that tour, the president promised residents he would help restore the region and their lives to what they were before the destructive spill.

Many have criticized Obama's response to the spill, comparing it to former president George W. Bush's slow reaction to Hurricane Katrina.