BP capturing oil from Gulf gusher, Obama slams firm

VENICE, La., (Reuters) – BP began capturing some oil  spewing from its ruptured Gulf of Mexico well yesterday as  President Barack Obama warned the company against skimping on  compensation to residents and businesses hurt by the 46-day-old  spill.

With tar balls washing ashore in Florida and political  pressure mounting on BP Plc to free up cash for damages,  company executives told investors they were putting off a  decision on whether to suspend the next quarterly dividend. “Future decisions on the quarterly dividend will be made by  the Board, as they always have been, on the basis of the  circumstances at the time,” the British energy giant said in a  statement. Its annual dividend totals $10.5 billion.

BP CEO Tony Hayward said the company had plenty of money to  meet its obligations, including $5 billion in cash and  additional credit lines it could tap. It has already spent well  over $1 billion on its oil spill response.

Obama, facing a monumental test of his presidency amid  criticism he has failed to demonstrate leadership or emotion in  the crisis, showed a flash of anger as he seized on the  dividend issue in a meeting with state and local officials in  Kenner, Louisiana.

“They say they want to make it right. That’s part of their  advertising campaign. Well, we want them to make it right,”  Obama said, criticizing BP for spending lavishly on television  ads to burnish its corporate image while the company considers  the dividend payout.

“What I don’t want to hear is, when they’re spending that  kind of money on their shareholders and spending that kind of  money on TV advertising, that they’re nickel and diming  fishermen or small businesses here in the Gulf,” he said.

It was Obama’s third trip to the region since the April 20  rig explosion that killed 11 workers and unleashed the worst  oil spill in U.S. history. In an interview on Thursday, he said  he was “furious” at the disaster, which threatens fishing and  tourism, two of the cornerstones of the local economy.

BP made progress late on Thursday when it was able to  attach a containment cap atop the ruptured well, which came  after several failed attempts to choke off or curtail the oil  flow. It will take a few days for the operation to reach  optimum performance, at which point the company hoped to be  able to siphon off 90 percent of the leaking oil.