Asia-Pacific

Obama invites BP Chairman at White House June 16

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-06-11 10:53

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has invited BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg to meet him and senior administration officials at the White House next Wednesday, the White House announced on Thursday.

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The invitation to Svanberg was relayed through US disaster response chief Thad Allen. Obama has taken some heat from critics for not having yet talked to BP CEO Tony Hayward.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, asked earlier if Obama would meet Hayward soon, said it was more important to meet the BP chairman instead because "the corporate structure of the company makes the chairman of the board the relevant entity in approving ... the obligations that BP has to live up to."