BP on Wednesday agreed to pay 20 billion dollars into an independently run fund to meet the spiralling costs of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, bowing to tough demands from President Barack Obama.
The deal was revealed as top executives from the British energy giant met at the White House with Obama to discuss the crisis, which has triggered the nation’s worst environmental disaster.
Both sides were armed with legal teams, after Obama vowed to make BP pay for its “recklessness” which triggered the massive spill.
A source with knowledge of the deal confirmed to AFP that BP had bowed to Obama’s demands to set the money aside in the fund, adding it would be overseen by prominent lawyer Kenneth Feinberg.
Feinberg managed the compensation fund for victims of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
“We’re going to use every device, legal device, at our disposal if necessary,” senior White House advisor David Axelrod said earlier on CNN.
BP initially declined to confirm whether it would agree to set up an escrow fund to meet the thousands of compensation claims pouring in from the stricken southern states.
{{/usCountry}}BP initially declined to confirm whether it would agree to set up an escrow fund to meet the thousands of compensation claims pouring in from the stricken southern states.
{{/usCountry}}The New York Times reported BP would pay in the 20 billion over several years, after Obama warned Americans that the country was fighting an “epidemic” which could take years to control.