BP CEO repeats promise to pay all ‘legitimate’ claims following warning from Obama

BP CEO repeats promise to pay oil spill claims

NEW ORLEANS — BP PLC has repeated its promise to pay all “legitimate” claims resulting from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico after a warning from President Barack Obama.

CEO Tony Hayward wrote Saturday on a company Twitter account that the firm has been committed since the start of the oil spill to paying all legitimate financial claims.

Hayward did not explain what prompted his online posting. But on Friday, Obama said during a trip to Louisiana that he didn’t want BP “nickel-and-diming people.” The president said the federal government would make sure that BP paid the claims.

The company estimated this week that it would spend about $84 million through June to compensate for lost wages and profits caused by the oil spill.