Michael Bromwich, the new head of the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement — known as the Minerals and Mining Service until it changed its name this week to distance itself from its scandal-scarred past — is creating an internal investigations team, saying, "There is not that kind of investigative capability in my organization."

The 1,700-employee agency, which both regulates the oil and gas industry and collects billions in royalties from it, has been criticized for a cozy relationship with oil companies and lax oversight. The agency has just 62 inspectors in charge of overseeing nearly 4,000 production wells in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska and other areas.

The Associated Press says the investigative team will report directly to Bromwich and will have the authority to investigate problems within the agency itself, as well as the oil and gas companies.