Hayward under pressure as BP oil-spill costs soar $100m

OIL major BP's costs in fighting the spill in the Gulf of Mexico have soared by $100 million (£68m) in the past three days as pressure from US authorities continues to mount.

• National Guard helicopters drop sand bags into place to contain the oil. Picture: Getty Images

As the company – whose chief executive Tony Hayward revealed the personal toll the crisis was taking – began a new attempt to contain the ruptured well, US President Barack Obama proposed a tax rise of 1 per cent on a barrel of oil to pay for immediate clean-up costs.

Hayward admitted his career depended on a quick resolution to the environmental crisis.

Obama – said by a spokesman to be "deeply frustrated" that the leak has still not been plugged – said he would "spare no effort to clean up whatever damage has been caused".

His comments came as US Congressional investigators said that the device meant to stop oil leaking from a Gulf of Mexico well after last month's rig explosion was faulty.

In a report, investigators said a "blowout preventer" – a set of huge valves – had a hydraulic leak and a failed battery.

Oil industry commentators have said it is too early to conclude what caused the disaster.

Meanwhile, Hayward – who has been in the US for three weeks since the disaster happened – said in an interview that, although he felt his job was not on the line at present, his career was likely to depend on the company's ability to deal with the crisis.

He said: "I think I will be judged by the response. I don't feel my job is on the line but, of course, that might change."

Hayward also revealed that he had difficulty sleeping and that he was refusing to watch television or read newspaper reports about the accident.

He admitted he was receiving many calls from US federal officials, but said that relations with officials remained positive.

The company said that the increase in the costs it would incur from the oil spill includes money it has given to the coastal states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and to the federal government for their responses. The costs – which have risen to $450m in total – include efforts to contain the crude, as well as ongoing work to drill a relief well and settlements. BP has estimated the price tag increases by at least $10m a day.

In a further development yesterday, Transocean – the company that owns the sunken Deepwater Horizon rig, which is leased to BP – said it will petition a court in Houston to cap its overall liability from the incident at less than $27m. Transocean expects to receive $560m in insurance money from the loss of the Deepwater Horizon.

If the court approves the liability limit, then Transocean would be left with about $533m, almost enough to cover the firm's original revenue expectations over a three-year contract with BP.

A spokesman for the Swiss firm said the company will cite an 1851 law that says the owner of a sunken vessel is liable only for its value after the accident.

Shares in BP closed up 6p at 547.6p amid hopes that the latest attempt to plug the well using a steel dome could prove successful. Evolution analyst Richard Griffith said: "It looks like the shares have found a floor, but any setbacks on the ocean floor could undermine confidence."