WASHINGTON –The Obama administration put a temporary stop to new federal contracts with British oil company BP on Wednesday, citing the company's "lack of business integrity" and criminal proceedings stemming from the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010.

The action by the Environmental Protection Administration bars BP and its affiliates from new government contracts for an indefinite period, but won't affect existing contracts.

In a further blow to the company, BP will be disqualified from winning new leases to drill for oil or gas on taxpayer-owned land until the suspension is lifted. The federal government planned a sale Wednesday of more than 20 million acres of offshore land in the Gulf of Mexico. BP won't be eligible for that sale, the Interior Department said. An EPA official said BP was not informed about the suspension until Wednesday morning.