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June 2010 TBP has
said the cost of cleaning up
the oil leak in the Gulf of
Mexico has now reached
$2.65bn (£1.76bn).
The oil giant said this
included the cost of the
spill response, containment,
relief well drilling, grants
to Gulf states and claims
paid The total has risen to
an average of $100,000 a day
over the past three days -
the highest daily average so
far.
The company said more than
39,000 people were now
involved in the response
effort. More than 80,000
claims had been submitted,
BP said, and it had made
41,000 payments totalling
more than $128m. BP added it
was too early to quantify
other potential costs and
liabilities arising from the
incident.
Russia visit
BP's embattled chief
executive Tony Hayward will
hold meetings with officials
in Moscow later, including
with Deputy Prime Minister
Igor Sechin.
They are expected to discuss
BP's operations in the
country, which account for a
quarter of BP's total oil
production.
BP has denied speculation in
recent weeks that it is
planning to sell some of its
Russian investments, which
also include a small stake
in state-run oil company
Rosneft.
Earlier Mr Sechin told
reporters that Mr Hayward
was about to resign. The
claim was quickly denied by
BP.
BP's share price has more
than halved since the oil
disaster began in April,
wiping about $90bn off the
value of the company.
The company made an annual
profit of nearly $14bn last
year, but there is great
uncertainty over the impact
that legal action and
compensation claims could
have.
BP has already said it will
not be paying any dividends
to its shareholders this
year, after agreeing to
finance a $20bn (£13.5bn)
clean-up and compensation
fund for the oil spill.
A Downing Street statement
issued after the meeting
between Mr Obama and Mr
Cameron, said: "The leaders
agreed that BP should meet
its obligations to cap the
leak, clean up the damage
and meet legitimate
compensations.
"They also agreed that it
was to both countries'
advantage for BP to remain a
strong and stable company."
There was no official
response from Washington,
though a senior US official
emphasised to reporters at
the summit that BP's
obligations "have got to be
met".
BP will be hoping the talks
put an end to political
attacks on the company.
Officials in the US
administration have
criticised BP's response to
the spillage, and mounted
strong attacks on chief
executive Tony Hayward.
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