A federal judge is set to hear testimony from the chief executive of the company that owned the drilling rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, killing 11 workers and triggering the nation's worst offshore oil spill.

Transocean Ltd. president and CEO Steven Newman is scheduled to be the first witness Tuesday on the 14th day of a trial designed to determine the causes of BP's well blowout and to assign fault to the companies involved. Newman testified before Congress after the disaster.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier heard several hours of testimony Monday by Transocean's first witness, a well control expert.

During the first three weeks of the trial, Barbier heard testimony from more than a dozen witnesses for the Justice Department and private plaintiffs' attorneys.