BP eyes showdown with US govt on liability-BP source

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LONDON, June 9 | Wed Jun 9, 2010 5:28pm EDT

LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - Oil major BP (BP.L) believes it may be heading for a showdown with the White House over ever- increasing demands that it cover costs related to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a BP source said on Wednesday.

"At some point a line has to be drawn," the source said.

Earlier on Wednesday, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told a Senate hearing he would ask BP to repay the salaries of any workers laid off because of the six-month moratorium on deepwater exploratory drilling imposed by the U.S. government after the spill.

BP has said it will pay for the clean-up and direct damages to those affected by the spill, such as fisherman. But the source said the moratorium was a government decision, and so the costs related to it were a different matter.

The company declined comment.

Salazar's comments helped push BP's New York-listed American Depositary Receipts down 15 percent on Wednesday. [ID:nN08105101]

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Comments (114)
waint wrote:
They need to be seized.

Jun 09, 2010 5:54pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
goodgold wrote:
This Obama adminstration, including Slazar and Napolitano, are the most inept, classless, clueless, far left liberals imaginable (actually, I never could have imaged, before I saw it with my own eyes). Vote out who you can in 2010 and finish it in 2012. We need a seasoned busness person in the office who has accomplished something with his/her life.

Jun 09, 2010 6:07pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
GJPinKS wrote:
waint, are you suggesting that we seize the government? That is hateful and treasonous…

Jun 09, 2010 6:10pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
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