British PM Cameron pledges help in BP oil spill

Ratcheting up political pressure on the company, US Attorney General Eric Holder said in Washington he would make sure BP paid for all costs related to cleaning up the spill.

BP said it was capturing more oil from its deep-sea well in the Gulf of Mexico that ruptured on April 20, unleashing a torrent of oil that has caused the biggest US environmental disaster in history.

On day 52 of the spill, it is still not known how much oil is gushing out.

Shares in BP sank to their lowest level since 1997 in London trading on Thursday, catching up with a sharp fall on Wednesday in the United States, before bouncing off their lows.

In New York, the stock rebounded about 9 percent in early trading after taking a 16 percent dive to a 14-year-low on Wednesday amid concerns over BP's ability to meet mounting costs from the oil spill.

Illustrating the extent of investor concerns about BP, the cost of insuring its AA-rated debt traded for a time at levels normally associated with "junk" status.

In Britain, business leaders urged the government to defend BP - the biggest single payer of dividends among UK listed companies - against US threats to expand the company's liabilities for the spill and growing pressure from US lawmakers for it to suspend payment of its quarterly dividend; Kazinform cites The Arab News.

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