Oil giant BP's shares have endured another major sell-off as the group's board weighed up a dividend cut in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico spill.
The shares were down 10% at one stage - wiping more than £7 billion off the stock value of the firm - as nervous investors headed for the exit. BP shares closed 9% lower at 355.45p
The latest setback for BP came amid reports that two US senators had written to the firm demanding that it set aside 20 billion dollars (£13.5 billion) in a special account to pay for damages and clean-up costs.
BP declined to comment on the letter and said it would not make a statement on dividend payments following a board meeting.
Meanwhile US President Barack Obama began a two-day visit to the Gulf Coast to view the damage from the massive slick and talk to those hit by the disaster.
BP came under heavy fire from the President last week for "nickel and diming" people who live near the spill while planning big dividends for investors. But he added that it had paid 26,500 claims totalling 62 million US dollars (£42.3 million) to local businesses.
The company's latest update said the cost of the spill had reached 1.6 billion dollars (£1.1 billion) so far and its containment cap on the leaking well had collected around 127,000 barrels of oil.
But the firm's shares have now slumped by almost half since the crisis began two months ago when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank with the loss of 11 lives.
The latest tranche of dividend due in July is expected to be worth around £1.7 billion, and BP has confirmed its directors will consider various options, including suspension.
If the firm does decide to suspend the dividend it would hit UK pension funds and investors in the US, who hold around 40% of the company's shares.
