Antipathy in Washington towards the British-registered global company is causing disquiet among business leaders and politicians in London, as the price of BP's shares -- a staple of many pension funds -- plunges.

"I don't see it as a source of tension," US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told journalists.

"BP is a private company and this is about the impact of the tragedy... not about the relations between the United States and its closest ally," said Crowley.

"The British people understand the frustration and anger the American people are seeing in this. It is not going to affect our relationship," Crowley said.

At the White House, President Barack Obama's spokesman Robert Gibbs said he saw "no reason" why relations with Britain should be damaged by fierce US criticisms of BP.

"I see no reason that it would."

Gibbs also denied that the administration's rhetoric had been overly fiery on BP, a few days after Obama said he would fire BP CEO Tony Hayward over comments seen in the United States as overly flippant.

"Our focus has been on what's right -- fulfilling responsibility. It has not been on gratuitous language," Gibbs said.

But just minutes after a meeting with Obama and other congressional leaders, at the White House, Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives issued a firm condemnation of "the negligence of British Petroleum."

"It is clear that there was a lack of integrity on the part of BP when it came to what it told us about the adequacy of their technology, the sufficiency of blow-out prevention and the capacity to clean up," Pelosi said.

Pelosi also said that BP should ensure it had lived up to its responsibilities to compensate businesses badly hit by the disaster, before doling out dividend payments to shareholders.

"They should be paying small businesses first," she said. "BP must be held accountable."

BP, as the operator of the doomed rig, bears legal responsibility to pay for the disaster clean-up operation -- and for certain compensation costs for local businesses that have seen livelihoods badly hit.

New British Prime Minister David Cameron earlier said that he will discuss BP's handling of the disaster with Obama when the two leaders are expected to hold a telephone conversation at the weekend.

Gibbs said that the call had been previously scheduled to discuss a "whole range of issues," including Afghanistan, next steps on Iran and the global economy, and even the England v United States World Cup clash on Saturday.

Cameron said in Afghanistan earlier that he understood the US government's frustration with BP "because it is a catastrophe for the environment."

"Obviously everyone wants everything to be done that can be done. Of course that is something I will be discussing with the American president," said Cameron, who is expected to meet Obama in Washington next month.

London mayor Boris Johnson summed up concern in Britain over BP telling BBC radio: "I do think there's something slightly worrying about the anti-British rhetoric that seems to be permeating from America."

Johnson, of Cameron's Conservative party, added: "I would like to see a bit of cool heads rather than endlessly buck-passing and name-calling.

"When you consider the huge exposure of British pension funds to BP, it starts to become a matter of national concern if a great British company is being continually beaten up on the airwaves."

earlier related report
US pressure on BP sends share price tumbling
New Orleans, Louisiana (AFP) June 10, 2010 - BP's misery magnified Thursday as investors took flight for fear President Barack Obama will exact a heavy price from the British energy giant for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

With an angry American public digesting daily images of helpless birds rendered flightless by the toxic crude, Obama is under fire over his handling of the crisis and has responded by ramping up the pressure on BP.

Shares in the company plummeted 15.7 percent in early London trading as investors were spooked by concerns over its potentially skyrocketing liability and US pressure to suspend prized shareholder dividends.

Although it later recouped most of its loss, BP's share price has collapsed more than 40 percent since the Deepwater Horizon rig sank on April 22, wiping tens of billions of dollars off its market value.

The latest plunge came the day after US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said BP's liability should include reimbursements for all companies hit by a moratorium on deep sea drilling.

Asked during a Senate grilling if the government will make BP pay out to all companies that go out of business, take bankruptcy or lay off workers, Salazar replied: "The answer to that is, yes, we will. BP is responsible."

Many in the Gulf region, which is heavily dependent on the oil industry, are furious at the moratorium and strongly criticized the Obama administration for introducing the six-month measure.

The US government is putting pressure on BP to withhold its next dividend payment until compensation is paid, while admitting concerns the company could even go bust or split into several entities to avoid paying the full damages.

"The last company that people in the Gulf coast want to see go bankrupt is BP because we're counting on them to clean up our environment and make our people whole," Louisiana senator Mary Landrieu told ABC television.

"We better be very careful before we drive every one of these 33 deepwater wells to Africa or India."

US government officials said BP had agreed to speed up payouts to individuals and businesses affected by the spill following a meeting with Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who is leading the response to the disaster.

Allen had sent a letter to BP chief executive Tony Hayward, asking him to explain how compensation packages to devastated local industries were being calculated and why they were taking so long to process.

BP is frantically trying to stop oil leaking from a fractured pipe a mile down on the sea floor and prevent a giant slick, which has broken up into hundreds of smaller patches, from spoiling ecologically fragile marshlands and nature reserves.

A containment device placed last week over the blown out well some 50 miles (80 kilometers) off Louisiana, is capturing nearly 15,000 barrels, or 630,000 gallons, of crude a day, yet oil continues to pour into the Gulf.

The arrival of a second vessel in the coming days is expected to boost the capacity of the system and BP has commandeered a tanker from the North Sea to help burn off some of the crude and natural gas.

BP has also been sent a second letter ordering it to inform the US government by Friday of its contingency planning for the containment system.

It said there must be no pause in the recovery effort if new vessels were needed to increase the capacity of the system and demanded to know what plans had been laid out in case operations were derailed by hurricanes.

A permanent solution will not come before the first of two relief wells are drilled, in August at the earliest, allowing the leak to be plugged with cement.

Tensions over the disaster, fueled by a remark Tuesday from Obama that he wants to know "whose ass to kick," are threatening to spill over into the diplomatic arena.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said he intends to bring up the crisis with Obama in a telephone call at the weekend, but the United States dismissed the notion that bilateral relations were at risk.

"The British people understand the frustration and anger the American people are seeing in this. It is not going to affect our relationship," US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told journalists.

Obama, who heads to the Gulf next week for his fourth visit since the disaster, was to meet Thursday at the White House with relatives of 11 workers killed on the Deepwater Horizon rig.

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