NEW YORK — BP plans to release an internal report of the Deepwater Horizon disaster Wednesday morning, even as it continues to deal the consequences of the April 20 explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP said the report was prepared by its internal-investigation team on the causes of the Gulf of Mexico fiasco. The accident resulted in the death of 11 workers and nearly 5 million barrels of oil spewing out of the ruptured well about 50 miles south of the Louisiana coast.

The findings also are coming as the criminal investigation of the blast continues. BP’s report could lay out arguments it plans to use to defend itself in court proceedings.

The company has been mum about the cause of the disaster, although last week it issued a report on lessons learned from the accident.

A series of government hearings also have been held in New Orleans. Testimony has been given by a variety of executives and supervisors involved on the accident’s causes.

In an appearance before Congress on June 17, BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said the cause of the spill was unknown.

On Friday, BP removed the failed blow-out preventer from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico from the so-called Macondo well. The apparatus, hauled up from a mile below the surface, could provide more clues on the causes of the blast.

BP shut in the Macondo well on July 15 and has been moving ahead with plans to permanently seal it up.

After removing the original blow-out preventer, the company placed a new capping stack on top of the well, and is getting ready to pump cement into the area near the bottom of the well to seal it off from the oil reservoir.

BP is reportedly stepping up plans to sell some of its Alaska assets and cut other deals to grapple with about $8 billion in costs incurred thus far.

The oil giant has increased its target for disposals to $40 billion from $30 billion, the U.K. Sunday Times newspaper said. BP has put its stake in Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay — worth around $20 billion — up for sale and is also in talks to sell up to $10 billion of other assets to its Russian joint venture TNK-BP, the newspaper reported.

The earlier $30 billion target was BP’s attempt to reassure investors that it could cover the rising cost of the Gulf spill. See earlier story on BP’s disposal plans.

The Financial Times reported Monday that Apache Corp. is still seen as a potential buyer of BP’s Alaskan assets. Occidental Petroleum Corp. is another potential suitor, the newspaper added, citing industry bankers.

BP had been in negotiations to sell half of its 26 percent stake in Prudhoe Bay to Apache earlier this year, but the talks fell through after the proposed deal became too complicated, the Times reported.