BP chairman says oil giant remains strong

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil giant BP remains in a strong financial position despite the market uncertainty that has followed a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said on Friday.

Svanberg, in an interview with Sky News television, also confirmed that BP chief executive Tony Hayward would hand over the day-to-day handling of the spill to managing director Bob Dudley once the leak has been capped.

"The company is strong, the company has strong underlying performance -- strong cash flow, strong operations," Svanberg said.

However, he said it was impossible to know the final cost of the spill until it had been stopped.

A senior London-based banker told Reuters on Friday that BP was seeking $7 billion in loans from banks, trying to raise more cash as it struggled to plug its gushing Gulf of Mexico well and contain the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

The oil firm, which has seen its share price slump by a quarter in June alone, has agreed to establish a $20 billion fund to handle damage claims from businesses and residents along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

(Reporting by Matt Falloon, Editing by Keith Weir)