Obama apologises over BP but the fight goes on
US Pres Obama has apologised to David Cameron regarding his "over the top" comments about the UK as a whole when discussing the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. This is welcome news for not only BP but also David Cameron who has experienced massive criticism in the press due to his "softly softly" approach to the problem. However, it seems as though his unique approach to diplomacy with the US may well be paying dividends as the political situation is likely to settle down.
However, it is also believed that Pres Obama will introduce legislation to legally enforce BP to put aside money into a reserve fund to cover the cost of the cleanup and any additional charges which may follow. It is also rumoured that BP is seriously considering a suspension of dividend payments, at least in the short term, in order to focus upon the cost of cleaning up the oil spill. Whether or not the company can actually afford to suspend dividend payments is open to debate because this could have a massive impact upon the share price.
While the political turmoil appears to be dying down there is no doubt there are still many tricky days ahead for BP.
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