British PM warns against 'destruction' of BP

HUNTSVILLE, Canada, June 26 British Prime Minister David Cameron Friday warned against "the destruction" of BP as its shares plummeted close to a 14-year low amid the battle against the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The new British leader, who held his first bilateral talks Saturday with US President Barack Obama, said it was important for transparency over the British company's liability in the catastrophe.

"I think 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," he told Canadian broadcaster CBC.

BP has increasingly come under fire from the US administration for triggering the country's worst ever environmental disaster when a BP-leased rig exploded in the Gulf in April.

Despite desperate efforts, BP is still not capping all of the estimated 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil spilling into the sea every day.

The British energy giant said Friday it had spent 2.35 billion dollars (1.9 billion euros) on compensation and clean-up costs as the giant slick washes up on the southern US coast.

But the final costs are likely to be even higher, with BP already having agreed to pay 20 billion dollars into a compensation fund over the next five years.

-AFP