BP agrees to $20-billion escrow fund; cancels dividends
Posted in News, what on June 16th, 2010 by admin – Comments Off
The Obama administration has reached a preliminary agreement with BP executives that would see the oil company pay $20 billion over several years into an independently controlled escrow account to be established to compensate Gulf of Mexico residents affected by the disastrous oil spill, and BP’s board of directors has eliminated the company’s stock dividend, at least temporarily.
The agreement on the escrow account was negotiated in a meeting at the White House on Wednesday morning, the first face-to-face gathering between President Obama and senior BP leadership. A White House official said that, under the terms of the deal, the fund would be administered by attorney Kenneth Feinberg, currently serving as the special master for executive pay under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Feinberg ran a fund that compensated victims of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Immediately after the meeting, BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said that the oil company’s board of directors has decided not to pay any more dividends this year.
Obama sees light ahead for oil-damaged Gulf Coast
Posted in News on June 14th, 2010 by admin – Comments OffIn a newly optimistic tone, President Barack Obama promised Monday that “things are going to return to normal” along the stricken Gulf Coast and the region’s fouled waters will be in better shape than before the catastrophic BP oil spill.
He declared Gulf seafood safe to eat and said his administration was redoubling inspections and monitoring to make sure it stays that way. And his White House said Monday it had wrested apparent agreement from BP PLC to set up an independent, multibillion-dollar compensation fund for people and businesses suffering from the spill’s effects.
Obama said the goal was to pay legitimate claims “justly, fairly, promptly.”
