Showing posts with label US PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA. Show all posts
In an interview with Sky News, Carl-Henric Svanberg dismissed comments by Russia's president that the oil giant may face "annihilation".
Mr Svanberg also confirmed that BP chief executive Tony Hayward would be handing over the day-to-day response to BP managing director Bob Dudley.
The BP oil rig exploded on 20 April.
Eleven people died in the Deepwater Horizon drill rig accident, which left a ruptured well spewing hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
Despite BP efforts to contain the leak, oil continues to enter the sea, threatening states along the Gulf coast.
It has been described as the worst ecological disaster in the US.
A containment cap and another device are capturing some 25,000 barrels of oil a day - the latest estimates suggest 35,000-60,000 barrels a day are spewing out.
Mr Svanberg also confirmed that BP chief executive Tony Hayward would be handing over the day-to-day response to BP managing director Bob Dudley.
The BP oil rig exploded on 20 April.
Eleven people died in the Deepwater Horizon drill rig accident, which left a ruptured well spewing hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
Despite BP efforts to contain the leak, oil continues to enter the sea, threatening states along the Gulf coast.
It has been described as the worst ecological disaster in the US.
A containment cap and another device are capturing some 25,000 barrels of oil a day - the latest estimates suggest 35,000-60,000 barrels a day are spewing out.
President Barack Obama has vowed to make BP pay for the damage.
The company has agreed to put aside $20bn (£13.5bn) to compensate victims of the oil spill - and has vowed to help with the clean-up.
On Friday, rating agency Moody's downgraded BP's credit rating by three notches, following similar moves by the other two rating agencies earlier this week.
It said the full costs of the oil spill would have a negative impact on the company's cash flow for "a number of years". Complaicency charges
On Thursday, Tony Hayward faced an angry US Congressional panel which told him BP had ignored dangers when drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
House committee on energy and commerce chairman Henry Waxman said BP's "complacency" before the rig explosion had been "astonishing".
He accused Mr Hayward of "stonewalling" for failing to answer his questions.
But Mr Svanberg defended the chief executive, saying the answers would have to wait until a BP inquiry into what happened was completed.
The company has agreed to put aside $20bn (£13.5bn) to compensate victims of the oil spill - and has vowed to help with the clean-up.
On Friday, rating agency Moody's downgraded BP's credit rating by three notches, following similar moves by the other two rating agencies earlier this week.
It said the full costs of the oil spill would have a negative impact on the company's cash flow for "a number of years". Complaicency charges
On Thursday, Tony Hayward faced an angry US Congressional panel which told him BP had ignored dangers when drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
House committee on energy and commerce chairman Henry Waxman said BP's "complacency" before the rig explosion had been "astonishing".
He accused Mr Hayward of "stonewalling" for failing to answer his questions.
But Mr Svanberg defended the chief executive, saying the answers would have to wait until a BP inquiry into what happened was completed.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Thursday that BP had to pay "a lot of money this year".
"Whether the company can digest those expenditures, whether they will lead to the annihilation of the company or its break up is a matter of expediency," Mr Medvedev said.
But the BP chairman rejected his company was facing that prospect.
"The company is strong, the company has strong underlying performance - strong cash flow, strong operations," Mr Svanberg said.
But he added that it was impossible to know the final cost of the spill until it had been stopped.
BP says it will withhold dividends until the end of the year as part of its response to the spill.
The long-term hope for ending the spill rests with two relief wells now being drilled, one of which has reached two miles (3km) below the seabed, or about two-thirds of the way to its target, US disaster co-ordinator Admiral Thad Allen reported on Thursday.
BP plans to seal the leak with concrete but that is not likely to happen until August at the earliest.
"Whether the company can digest those expenditures, whether they will lead to the annihilation of the company or its break up is a matter of expediency," Mr Medvedev said.
But the BP chairman rejected his company was facing that prospect.
"The company is strong, the company has strong underlying performance - strong cash flow, strong operations," Mr Svanberg said.
But he added that it was impossible to know the final cost of the spill until it had been stopped.
BP says it will withhold dividends until the end of the year as part of its response to the spill.
The long-term hope for ending the spill rests with two relief wells now being drilled, one of which has reached two miles (3km) below the seabed, or about two-thirds of the way to its target, US disaster co-ordinator Admiral Thad Allen reported on Thursday.
BP plans to seal the leak with concrete but that is not likely to happen until August at the earliest.
WASHINGTON: Although titled US-India Strategic Dialogue, the talks held in Washington this week also focused on New Delhi’s relations with Pakistan, said a senior US official. “It’s a part of the dialogue in the sense that we’re always interested in seeing if peace can be enhanced between these two very important partners of the United States,” said Assistant Secretary Robert Blake. Mr Blake, who looks after South Asian affairs at the State Department, however, noted that the US had always believed it was up to India and Pakistan themselves to resolve their differences. Determining “the pace, scope and character of their dialogue” was also ‘completely’ up to the two countries. “We are more in the mode of just encouraging peace on both sides and encouraging both sides to address each other’s concerns as much as possible.” Mr Blake’s statement, included in a transcript the State Department released on Friday, reflected the traditional US policy on this issue, which actively encourages both countries to settle their disputes through negotiations but refuses to take a public position. The US reluctance is linked to India’s stance as well, which rejects any outside mediation in its dealings with Pakistan. But this makes it difficult for friendly states to help reduce tensions between South Asia’s two neighbouring nuclear states. In deference to New Delhi’s desire, the US also refuses to take a public position on the Kashmir dispute, which has plagued relations between India and Pakistan for more than 60 years. “I don’t think Kashmir is really the question that’s on the table now,” said Mr Blake when asked what the US could do to help the two sides resolve the Kashmir dispute. “The real question right now is to first get some progress on the trial of the Mumbai suspects, those who are already in custody in Pakistan,” he said. “And also from the Indian perspective to see progress by Pakistan on stopping actions by Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Punjab-based terrorist groups against India.” These two, he said, were “really the redlines” for re-establishing the composite dialogue between India and Pakistan. And since this also endorsed the Indian policy on this particular issue, Mr Blake was not reluctant in offering US assistance for realising the two objectives. “Those are areas where I think we can help and encourage our Pakistani friends to move forward, and indeed we have,” he said. The US official also rejected the suggestion that India was worried Washington might sacrifice New Delhi’s interests as it sought Pakistan’s help in Afghanistan. “I don’t think India really is worried about that,” he said. “We’ve had extensive talks with our Indian friends, not only during the course of this strategic dialogue but previously.”
President Barack Obama unveiled a new national security strategy Thursday, replacing George W. Bush's “war on terror”doctrine with a sweeping blueprint for a world bristling with multiple threats.
Obama also put new constraints on the former president's concept of pre-emptive war and cited national security implications of economic meltdowns, global warming, cyberwarfare, nuclear proliferation and ethnic conflict.
“To succeed, we must face the world as it is,” the document states, turning the page on Bush-era dreams of remaking the global order with American might and recognizing the increasing global engagement of Russia and the emergence of rising powers like China and India.
The document also contains warnings for Iran and North Korea, focuses on homegrown extremists who turn to Islamic radicalism in America and says the most serious threats to Americans are posed by nuclear proliferation.
The new doctrine illustrates an evolution of Obama's pro-engagement policies after 16 months in power, a period that brought the idealism of his election campaign into conflict with the harsh realities of geopolitics.
It describes a world thick with evolving threats and seeks to reframe US foreign policy after two bloody wars and a crippling global financial crisis.
It projects a tough, hard-nosed assessment of American interests and the use of US power, and lays out a dizzying array of threats from cyberwarfare to health epidemics to ethnic wars to inequality.
Obama commits to using the sweeping range of foreign policy tools, including diplomacy, economic renewal, development aid, military might and education.
It calls for tough engagement “without illusion” with US foes like Iran and North Korea, but warns they face deepening isolation if they continue to spurn US advances and do not bow to pressure to throw open their nuclear programs.
The document also preserves the US right to launch unilateral military action, but does so in more restrictive terms than those used by the former Bush administration.
It also seeks to widen the scope of US foreign policy, which became dominated by a doctrinaire “war on terror” following the September 11 attacks in 2001, and led to the war in Iraq, after the invasion of Afghanistan.
“We will always seek to delegitimize the use of terrorism and to isolate those who carry it out,” said the document, the product of intense internal deliberations during the 16 months of the Obama administration.
“Yet this is not a global war against a tactic, terrorism or a religion, Islam.
“We are at war with a specific network, al-Qaeda, and its terrorist affiliates who support efforts to attack the United States, our allies, and partners.”
In his final national security strategy in 2006, Bush targeted terrorism as a concept more specifically, declaring boldly “the war on terror is not over.”
Obama's document appears to water down the concept of preemptive war favored by the Bush administration, but preserves the option for a US president to deploy military might unilaterally.
It says Washington will “adhere to standards that govern the use of force.”
"We will also outline a clear mandate and specific objectives and thoroughly consider the consequences , intended and unintended, of our actions.”
“To succeed, we must face the world as it is,” the document states, turning the page on Bush-era dreams of remaking the global order with American might and recognizing the increasing global engagement of Russia and the emergence of rising powers like China and India.
The document also contains warnings for Iran and North Korea, focuses on homegrown extremists who turn to Islamic radicalism in America and says the most serious threats to Americans are posed by nuclear proliferation.
The new doctrine illustrates an evolution of Obama's pro-engagement policies after 16 months in power, a period that brought the idealism of his election campaign into conflict with the harsh realities of geopolitics.
It describes a world thick with evolving threats and seeks to reframe US foreign policy after two bloody wars and a crippling global financial crisis.
It projects a tough, hard-nosed assessment of American interests and the use of US power, and lays out a dizzying array of threats from cyberwarfare to health epidemics to ethnic wars to inequality.
Obama commits to using the sweeping range of foreign policy tools, including diplomacy, economic renewal, development aid, military might and education.
It calls for tough engagement “without illusion” with US foes like Iran and North Korea, but warns they face deepening isolation if they continue to spurn US advances and do not bow to pressure to throw open their nuclear programs.
The document also preserves the US right to launch unilateral military action, but does so in more restrictive terms than those used by the former Bush administration.
It also seeks to widen the scope of US foreign policy, which became dominated by a doctrinaire “war on terror” following the September 11 attacks in 2001, and led to the war in Iraq, after the invasion of Afghanistan.
“We will always seek to delegitimize the use of terrorism and to isolate those who carry it out,” said the document, the product of intense internal deliberations during the 16 months of the Obama administration.
“Yet this is not a global war against a tactic, terrorism or a religion, Islam.
“We are at war with a specific network, al-Qaeda, and its terrorist affiliates who support efforts to attack the United States, our allies, and partners.”
In his final national security strategy in 2006, Bush targeted terrorism as a concept more specifically, declaring boldly “the war on terror is not over.”
Obama's document appears to water down the concept of preemptive war favored by the Bush administration, but preserves the option for a US president to deploy military might unilaterally.
It says Washington will “adhere to standards that govern the use of force.”
"We will also outline a clear mandate and specific objectives and thoroughly consider the consequences , intended and unintended, of our actions.”
BP says it has begun pumping mud into a breached Gulf of Mexico oil well to try to stem the flow of oil caused by a rig explosion last month.
The US government had earlier approved the move, a so-called "top kill", which has never been tried at such a depth.
BP is under intense pressure to succeed with its latest attempt to stem the leak, after previous measures failed.
Thousands of barrels of oil have been spewing into the Gulf every day since the accident on 20 April.
BP is under intense pressure to succeed with its latest attempt to stem the leak, after previous measures failed.
Thousands of barrels of oil have been spewing into the Gulf every day since the accident on 20 April.
Company officials say it could be a couple of days before they know whether the "top kill" operation is working.
Mud will continue to be pumped into the well for hours, spokesman Steve Rinehart said.
"The procedure is intended to stem the flow of oil and gas and ultimately kill the well by injecting heavy drilling fluids through the blowout preventer on the seabed, down into the well," a BP statement said.
If the oil flow is successfully capped, engineers will follow up with cement to seal the well permanently.
BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward has put the operation's chance of success at 60-70%.
Mud will continue to be pumped into the well for hours, spokesman Steve Rinehart said.
"The procedure is intended to stem the flow of oil and gas and ultimately kill the well by injecting heavy drilling fluids through the blowout preventer on the seabed, down into the well," a BP statement said.
If the oil flow is successfully capped, engineers will follow up with cement to seal the well permanently.
BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward has put the operation's chance of success at 60-70%.
The procedure began at 1300 local time (1800 GMT), shortly after federal officials approved the plan.
Officials say the method has been used before in other areas of the world, but not at the depths required to stem the oil from the Deepwater Horizon rig.
There is a risk a weak spot in the blowout preventer that sits on top of the well could breach under the pressure, causing a brand new leak at the site 50 miles (80km) off the Louisiana coast. 'No guarantees'
Speaking in California, US President Barack Obama said his administration would commit all resources necessary to stop the flow of oil into the sea.
Officials say the method has been used before in other areas of the world, but not at the depths required to stem the oil from the Deepwater Horizon rig.
There is a risk a weak spot in the blowout preventer that sits on top of the well could breach under the pressure, causing a brand new leak at the site 50 miles (80km) off the Louisiana coast. 'No guarantees'
Speaking in California, US President Barack Obama said his administration would commit all resources necessary to stop the flow of oil into the sea.
If it's successful - and there are no guarantees - it should greatly reduce or eliminate the flow of oil now streaming into the Gulf from the seafloor. And if it's not, there other approaches that may be viable," he said.
Mr Obama said the "heartbreaking" oil spill underscored the need to find alternative energy sources.
"We will not rest until this well is shut, the environment is repaired and the clean-up is complete," he added.
Mr Obama is due to make his second visit to the Gulf of Mexico region on Friday.
His visit will come a day after he receives a report into offshore drilling that is expected to recommend tougher regulations and demand more safeguards.
Mr Obama said the "heartbreaking" oil spill underscored the need to find alternative energy sources.
"We will not rest until this well is shut, the environment is repaired and the clean-up is complete," he added.
Mr Obama is due to make his second visit to the Gulf of Mexico region on Friday.
His visit will come a day after he receives a report into offshore drilling that is expected to recommend tougher regulations and demand more safeguards.
'Series of failures'
London-based BP has acknowledged that a series of failures occurred on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the hours before the explosion that killed 11 workers and triggered the spill that has so far spewed at least 7 million gallons (26.5 million litres) into the Gulf.
London-based BP has acknowledged that a series of failures occurred on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the hours before the explosion that killed 11 workers and triggered the spill that has so far spewed at least 7 million gallons (26.5 million litres) into the Gulf.
Two leading US congressmen have meanwhile been briefed on thousands of BP documents relating to the accident.
In a memo, Representatives Henry Waxman and Bart Stupak say the explosion was preceded by several warning signs - including abnormal pressure readings and failures in some functions of the blowout preventer - but action appears to have been taken too late.
Questions have been raised over whether proper procedures were followed.
Speaking on US television on Wednesday, Mr Hayward said: "What we're seeing here is a whole series of failures. We've identified... at least seven.
"It's very clear that much more needs to be put in place to deal with this situation should it ever occur again."
He added: "It's clear that this will be a transforming event in the history of deep water exploration.
In a memo, Representatives Henry Waxman and Bart Stupak say the explosion was preceded by several warning signs - including abnormal pressure readings and failures in some functions of the blowout preventer - but action appears to have been taken too late.
Questions have been raised over whether proper procedures were followed.
Speaking on US television on Wednesday, Mr Hayward said: "What we're seeing here is a whole series of failures. We've identified... at least seven.
"It's very clear that much more needs to be put in place to deal with this situation should it ever occur again."
He added: "It's clear that this will be a transforming event in the history of deep water exploration.
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