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June 17, 2010

BP Agrees to $20B Fund for Oil Spill Compensation Claims
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The oil giant BP has agreed to President Obama’s demand to finance a $20
billion fund that will pay out claims for damages from the Gulf of
Mexico oil spill. President Obama announced the agreement after meeting
top BP executives at the White House.

President Obama: "This $20 billion will provide substantial assurance
that the claims people and businesses have will be honored. It’s also
important to emphasize this is not a cap. The people of the Gulf have my
commitment that BP will meet its obligations to them. BP has publicly
pledged to make good on the claims that it owes to the people in the
Gulf. And so, the agreement we reached sets up a financial and legal
framework to do it."

BP also agreed for the first time to suspend dividend payments to
shareholders this year. In a statement apparently designed to reassure
BP shareholders, President Obama also called BP "a strong and viable
company," adding, "it is in all of our interests that it remain so."



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