Mr. Barack Obama and British PM David Cameron in Friendly Chat on Oil Spill and BP Role

In the wake of his withering criticism of BP for its handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, President Barack Obama spoke with British Prime Minister David Cameron for a half-hour Saturday and apparently assured him that his widely reported comments were not meant as a slap at Great Britain.

At least that was the take on the private telephone conversation as relayed by Cameron's Downing Street office in London. Obama, in a recent television interview, said he wasn't consulting with experts about the disastrous oil spill as a college seminar exercise, but "so I know whose ass to kick." He has also referred to the oil company by its old name, British Petroleum, though it is now an international corporation that goes by the handle BP PLC. Obama jumped on BP for its flawed response to the mess in the gulf -- the consequence of an April 20 rig explosion that blew out a well which is still spewing oil -- and for a recent PR campaign meant to buck up the company's tarred image.


The broadsides reportedly created a backlash in Britain where BP is a household name and millions of citizens depend on dividends and pension funds from the company. Cameron's office said Obama told the prime minister his "frustrations about the oil spill had nothing to do with national identity" and that he "had no inter
est in undermining BP's value." The White House "readout" on that issue was briefer, saying "the president and prime minister discussed the impact of [the] tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, reiterating that BP must do all it can to respond effectively to the situation."

It was the first substantive conversation between the leaders since Obama phoned Cameron on May 22 with congratulations on his becoming prime minister. They also discussed Afghanistan, the U.N. sanctions on Iran and the upcoming G-8 summit in Toronto. And they made a puzzling bet on the World Cup soccer match between the United States and Britain -- "the best lager against the best beer in America." But most American beer is "lager," while the Brits prefer darker ales and porter. The game ended in a tie, so we may never know who would have won what.
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