BP agrees to put $20 billion in escrow fund, official says
CNN Wire Staff
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/US/06/16/gulf.oil.disaster/t1larg.jpg caption="President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden meet Wednesday with BP execs in a photo released by the White House" width=300 height=169]
BP has agreed to place $20 billion in an escrow fund to pay for claims in the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, a senior administration official told CNN on Wednesday.
The development came as President Obama sat down Wednesday with top BP executives at the White House in a highly anticipated meeting that follows repeated administration insistence's the company must pick up the tab for the disaster.
BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg, CEO Tony Hayward and Managing Director Bob Dudley, and BP America CEO Lamar McKay were meeting with Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Attorney General Eric Holder and other administration officials.
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Filed under: Gulf Oil Spill |
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Is that not anything more than a jar on the counter for loose change. Not even near the amount that will be required for a loss of life as we know it, and not a grain of sand on the beach of recovery for the ecosystem that is being destroyed by BP and our leadership who fails once again to lead. Change, change, change, when are we ever going to get it?
I love how BP's Chairman referred to American citizens on the front line of this crises as "small". "BP...cares about the small people." I was under the impression that we're all considered equal here in the US. Prehaps if BP had more respect for those of "smaller importance" and less concern for "profits at any cost," the gulf of Mexico wouldn't be blackened at this point in time, generations of "small" fishing families wouldn't be loosing their livelyhood and the "small" wildlife and seafood in the Gulf of Mexico wouldn't be covered with and dying from oil exposure!
For me this $20B fund reinforces the fact that we give too much away to companies like BP. These are natural resources and we should all be sharing in the profits. The fact that BP has a spare $20B works great in this case, but how on earth can we give so much of our resource profit away like this in the first place.
Only twenty billion? That's going to go faster than the 'Cash for Clunkers' money.
Adding insult to injury,the people who are suffering the most from the oil spill are now "the little people:.
BP has many problems at their texas city plant. I don't understand how they keep getting away with not fllowing oshas rules. I wonder how many people in Washington have been paid off by them. Maybe it is time for the "little people" to take over.
So BP has decided to discontinue dividends. That affects all common shareholders, many of whom are little guys and may benefit from the dividends either through directly holding shares or mutual funds. What about bonuses – not just executives but all bonus eligible employees. Then the pain is contained within BP and doesn't directly affect the little investor.
Good – Bye BP! Who the heck is going want to invest in a company with at least a 20billion dollar liability? Answer: nobody