BP chief 'devastated' by oil spill

A Louisiana official scoops oil from the waters of the Gulf coast
12 April 2012

BP chief executive Tony Hayward says he has been "personally devastated" by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and understands the anger Americans feel toward him and his company.

In testimony to be delivered to a White House panel, Mr Hayward says BP does not yet have answers to important questions about the oil spill, which has dumped as many as 118 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

But Mr Hayward says he hears the concerns, fears, frustrations and anger being voiced across the country. He says he knows there will be hard feelings until the leak is stopped, and that until it is, "no words will be satisfying."

Meanwhile, BP has agreed to set up a £13.5 billion fund to help pay victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, US President Barack Obama has confirmed.

Following a meeting with bosses of the oil giant in the White House, Mr Obama said efforts to contain the leak should capture 90% of the leaking oil in the coming days and weeks.

"That is still not good enough. We will continue to press BP," he added.

BP's chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg, said the company would not pay dividends to its shareholders for the rest of the year.

In a statement, BP said that cancelling dividends was "right and prudent".

Previously declared first-quarter dividends, scheduled to be paid on June 21, have been shelved as part of the move.

"The board will consider resumption of dividend payments in 2011," BP said.

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