VENICE, La., (Reuters) – BP began capturing some oil spewing from its ruptured Gulf of Mexico well yesterday as President Barack Obama warned the company against skimping on compensation to residents and businesses hurt by the 46-day-old spill.
With tar balls washing ashore in Florida and political pressure mounting on BP Plc to free up cash for damages, company executives told investors they were putting off a decision on whether to suspend the next quarterly dividend. “Future decisions on the quarterly dividend will be made by the Board, as they always have been, on the basis of the circumstances at the time,” the British energy giant said in a statement. Its annual dividend totals $10.5 billion.
BP CEO Tony Hayward said the company had plenty of money to meet its obligations, including $5 billion in cash and additional credit lines it could tap. It has already spent well over $1 billion on its oil spill response.
Obama, facing a monumental test of his presidency amid criticism he has failed to demonstrate leadership or emotion in the crisis, showed a flash of anger as he seized on the dividend issue in a meeting with state and local officials in Kenner, Louisiana.
“They say they want to make it right. That’s part of their advertising campaign. Well, we want them to make it right,” Obama said, criticizing BP for spending lavishly on television ads to burnish its corporate image while the company considers the dividend payout.
“What I don’t want to hear is, when they’re spending that kind of money on their shareholders and spending that kind of money on TV advertising, that they’re nickel and diming fishermen or small businesses here in the Gulf,” he said.
It was Obama’s third trip to the region since the April 20 rig explosion that killed 11 workers and unleashed the worst oil spill in U.S. history. In an interview on Thursday, he said he was “furious” at the disaster, which threatens fishing and tourism, two of the cornerstones of the local economy.
BP made progress late on Thursday when it was able to attach a containment cap atop the ruptured well, which came after several failed attempts to choke off or curtail the oil flow. It will take a few days for the operation to reach optimum performance, at which point the company hoped to be able to siphon off 90 percent of the leaking oil.
