BP's Dudley:'Hard To Talk About Limit' To Claims Until Well Plugged

1st Jul 2010 21:12

By Brian Baskin Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Estimating the final cost for BP PLC (BP) of the leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico won't be possible until after the leak is stopped, the head of the company's spill response said Thursday. "It's hard to talk about a limit to claims, certainly [as] we continue to have this spill in the Gulf," said BP Managing Director Bob Dudley, who is heading the company's spill response. Dudley was answering a question submitted by a Louisiana resident to a live online interview conducted by PBS's NewsHour. Dudley noted that BP had agreed to a $20 billion account to pay for lost income and other claims stemming from the leaking well, which has gushed oil into the Gulf since a rig caught fire and sank in April. He added that $20 billion is not a cap to BP's obligations. The company has paid out $138 million in claims so far, he said. Responding to a question about the possibility that BP could go bankrupt, halting payments, Dudley said that BP remains a "very strong company in terms of its cash flow." "It's important to have a strong and viable BP," Dudley said. "We need to have some certainty for our investments so we can continue to generate the cash that will allow us to make good on our obligations and commitments and claims." BP is currently using two drilling rigs to collect between 23,000 and 25,000 barrels a day of oil from the leak. A third rig was expected to be installed to boost the amount of oil siphoned off by another 20,000 barrels a day, but high seas kicked up by Hurricane Alex prevented BP from hooking up the new containment system. BP also had to halt oil skimming, the spraying of dispersants and the laying of protective boom along the coastline as waves up to 12 feet high reached the spill zone, Dudley said. Those operations should resume on Saturday, he said. -By Brian Baskin, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2453; [email protected] -0- (MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires July 01, 2010 16:12 ET (20:12 GMT)