BP defers dividend decision

Updated: 11:44 EST, 4 June 2010

BP has decided to defer a decision on whether or not to pay its next quarterly dividend despite coming under intense political pressure to put the payout on hold in the wake of the ecological disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

In a statement, BP said: 'We fully understand the importance of our dividend to our shareholders.

'Future decisions on the quarterly dividend will be made by the Board, as they always have been, on the basis of the circumstances at the time. All factors will be considered and the decision taken in the long term interests of the shareholders.'

On the beach: Workers contracted by BP pick up tar balls in Louisiana

BP hopes its latest attempt to control the oil spill, placing a containment cap over a hole on the ruptured wellhead, will stop oil pouring from the deep-sea well, after an explosion on April 20 has caused the biggest oil spill in US history.

Earlier on Friday, a senior BP official said the energy giant was aiming to stop around 90 pc of the leaking oil with the containment cap.

BP is under pressure to suspend dividend payments,  which total $10.5bn a year - after two US Senators called on it not to pay out to shareholders until the full costs for cleaning up the massive spill are known.

However, most analysts believe the company can foot the bill without cutting its dividend.

BP has lost around a third of its market value or £40bn ($59bn) in the last six weeks.