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UPDATE 1-UK's Cameron-clarity needed to avoid BP "destruction"
* BP shares hit 14-year low
* Doesn't see it as issue between Britain and U.S. (Adds quotes)
By Sumeet Desai
TORONTO, June 25 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Friday there must be clarity over BP's (BP.L) costs for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill to avoid the "destruction" of the giant oil company.
BP shares fell to a 14-year low on Friday and the company has seen $100 billion wiped off its market value since the start of the biggest oil spill in U.S. history, now in its 67th day.
Cameron will press the issue when he meets U.S. President Barack Obama for the first time since taking office last month on the sidelines of the G8/G20 meetings in Canada.
"It is also in all our long-term interests that there is some clarity, some finality, to all of this, so that we don't at the same time see the destruction of a company that is important for all our interests," Cameron told Canadian broadcaster CBC.
Cameron's latest comments were his strongest words yet on the subject. Some newspapers in Britain have called on him to stand up for BP. Obama has also come under pressure at home for his handling of the crisis and faced criticism in Britain for being too hard on BP, the bedrock of many pension funds.
The company says it has paid out $2.35 billion so far in cleanup and compensation costs for the spill. That does not include the $20 billion oil spill fund it has agreed to set up or the billions of dollars it will have to pay in fines. [ID:nLDE65O06F]
Cameron added he still believed the matter called for gentle persuasion, brushing aside charges the issue was affecting Anglo-U.S. relations.
"This isn't an issue between Britain and America. This is about BP doing what it should but also being treated in a way that enables it to go forward," he told reporters earlier.
"BP wants to cap the oil, it wants to clean up the oil, it wants to pay compensation to fishermen and hotel owners and people who have suffered and it should do that," he said.
"I believe it can and I believe it should and I believe it is in both Britain and America's interests that BP remains a strong and stable company."
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Now it is unfortunate that the piper has to pay with the possibility of a demise of an important company . UK. can you blame the Americans ???? wouldn’t you demand the same respect and retribution from an American company should it had happened in your back yard !!!
It was called Piper Alpha – I think you will find the “piper paid”.
As for “blame the Americans”, why not? it is clear that an American rig, with American contractors following American legislation did this. Big businesses like BP will push that is what they do and they certainly will need to take some of the blame but blaming everything on BP is not correct I am deafened by the silence in the area of common sense here. BP agreed to pay damages and clean-up while Obama was still on Holiday and yet all we hear is noise from the hill.
I am sure BP global still think they can save the situation but I think it is time that BP America was declared bankrupt and the BP globally should move on without it.
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