As the environmental crisis in the Gulf of Mexico becomes more critical with each passing day, so does the overall impact on BP's battered reputation and sinking bottom line.

Since April 20, when 11 workers died after an explosion ripped through the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon oil rig, the energy giant has stumbled through one public relations imbroglio after another.

Initially, the company underestimated how much oil was actually leaking from the mile-deep oil well, making it appear that they either didn't care, or had something to hide.

Recently, the company faced more heat after reports surfaced that dividends would be paid out to shareholders, despite the fact that thousands of fishing boats continue to sit idle in the Gulf because of contamination fears.

And the bad news keeps coming.

New estimates from U.S. government scientists suggest that between 42 million and 100 million gallons of oil have already seeped into the Gulf's fragile ecosystem.

In fact, scientists now believe that more oil is gushing in one hour than what BP once said was flowing in a 24-hour period.

The company has also seen its share price drop by about 50 per cent since the crisis began, shrinking the corporation's worth by several billion dollars.

For a company which trumpets the motto of "beyond petroleum" and utilizes a green, flower-shaped logo, things couldn't get much worse.

"It is an extraordinarily difficult situation," said Jane Shapiro, a public relations expert with the firm of Hill and Knowlton.

Shapiro told CTV News Channel this week that the problems have been exacerbated as BP has been playing catch-up for the past several weeks.

"I think at the outset, BP may have angered a lot of people because they underestimated the extent of the disaster, and made comments which they now regret," she said, adding that the public perception is that BP was completely unprepared for such a spill.

Shapiro added that the real problem now is that there appears to be no firm deadline on when the spill can be stopped.

Making matters worse is U.S. President Barack Obama's pledge to hold the company accountable for the spill.

Shapiro said that Obama also appears to be playing catch-up, as he was criticized for playing it too cool during the early days of the spill.

"I now think that he's trying very hard to rectify that, and he may in fact be going too far in playing that card," she said.

While Obama's growing outrage plays well with people living near the Gulf, she said the president's public anger is eroding BP's ability to plug the leak and get started on the gargantuan clean-up effort.

Indeed, if BP goes bankrupt because of the spill, who will clean up the mess?

"The fact of the matter is, (Obama) doesn't have the solution: BP has it. And he's got to rely on them to provide it. Targeting them harshly pays some political dividends, but it's not helping solve the problem."

In recent days, however, Shapiro said that BP seems to be learning from its past missteps and is no longer releasing firm deadlines about stopping the leak, despite huge public pressure to do so. Instead, the company appears to be releasing progress reports and showing more transparency.

While there is no end in sight for the leak, the same can't be said for BP chief executive Tony Hayward, who has been criticized as being callous during the crisis.

This week, Hayward said that a dividend cut may be in order, but that has done little to help his reputation.

"I think he's got to stay and see the crisis through to the end," Shapiro said.

"I don't think it's to BP's or anyone else's advantage to change leadership at this stage. But will he survive afterward? I would suggest that's very much in doubt."