Energy giant BP, under pressure in the United States to suspend its dividend to help pay for damage from a huge oil spill, will decide its own dividend, foreign secretary William Hague said on Sunday.
Britain and the United States sought to patch up tensions over the Gulf of Mexico spill in a telephone call between US president Barack Obama and British prime minister David Cameron on Saturday.
Asked if there would be no more talk about British-based BP having to consult US politicians on its dividend policy, Hague told the BBC, "BP will decide on its own dividend, of course."
Hague said BP must "do its utmost to stop this oil spill, to deal with it satisfactorily on a permanent basis and to do everything it possibly can to mitigate the consequences".
He said the British government was offering large quantities of chemical dispersant to the United States to help with the spill.
