Washington, June 15: US President Barack Obama says his government is about to reach a deal with British energy giant BP to compensate victims of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Obama said he would press BP executives to set up a multi-billion-dollar account to pay damage claims to people hurt by the worst US ecological disaster until now.
The escrow fund was suggested by the US Congress.
BP’s Chief Executive Tony Hayward is due to appear before a congressional committee of lawmakers who have called for his dismissal.
This comes as the oil giant presents yet another plan to contain the oil which has been gushing into the Gulf for nearly two months now.
Reports say the plans objective is to contain more than 50,000 barrels of oil a day by the end of June. BP says it has so far spent about 1.6 billion dollars to stop the spill.
Millions of gallons of oil have been leaking into the sea since a deadly explosion blew up the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon oil rig in April 20, killing 11 workers.
Amid public anger over inadequate responses by the US government and BP to the oil disaster, US President Barack Obama has begun touring the crisis zone for the fourth time.
After meeting local officials in Mississippi and Alabama, Obama assured Gulf Coast residents that his administration will use its “full resources” to confront the disaster that has threatened the fishing and tourism industry and ruined the marshlands of the region.
He also struck an optimistic note for the future of the Gulf, promising it “will bounce back just like it’s bounced back before.”
This is while, new analysis on the oil leak suggest that the oil flow is twice as much as initial estimates announced by the US Government and BP.
The president is scheduled to address the nation over the worst environmental disaster in US history from the White House on Tuesday.
——-Agencies