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Speculation in the United States is mounting that US President Barack Obama may be forced to cancel his trip to Indonesia for a second time, this time because of the BP oil disaster.

Michael D. Shear, writing in his blog on the Washington Post, said the White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton was “pointedly noncommittal about the trip, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that it remained on the schedule as of now.”

However, he argued, the decision “may not look particularly good for Obama to leave the country just as his administration is being criticized for not seeming more commandingly in charge of the Gulf crisis.”

Peter Baker, writing in the New York Times, said some in the White House were considering whether to cancel the visit.

“For now, the trip remains on the schedule. But as the White House tallies up the spiraling price tag of the largest oil spill in American history, the bottom line extends beyond dollars and cents. Also on the line are the opportunity costs for a president who already had a packed agenda before a rig exploded in the waters off Louisiana.”

Dewi Fortuna Anwar, writing for the Jakarta Globe late last month, said the planned visit would put Indonesia in the international limelight.

“The visit is seen by many as recognition of Indonesia’s international standing as the largest country in Southeast Asia, the largest Muslim-majority nation, the world’s third-largest democracy and one of the world’s 20 largest economies.”

On March 19, Obama was forced to postpone his visit to Indonesia, Australia the US Pacific territory of Guam until June to help push his health care reform bill through Congress.

Just a week earlier, the White House said Obama’s return to his childhood home was unlikely to be delayed by his health reform drive.

Plans for Obama to bring his wife, Michelle, and two daughters to Indonesia, including Central Java and the famed Borobudur temple, had earlier been scrapped, disappointing many, after the first expected visit was delayed by three days.

Extensive preparations for his expected arrival in Jakarta on June 14 have been undertaken.

Obama remains deeply popular in Indonesia, in stark comparison to his predecessor, George W Bush.