Russians wade into BP mess

BP has upset the Americans for obvious reasons, but it's now attracted the attention of the Russians who fear the "annihilation" of the oil giant.Ahead of his first state visit to the US next week, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev told the Wall Street Journal that the disaster was "a wake-up call".While stopping short of saying Russia would re-evaluate BP's partnership in Russia, he said the spill will prompt a fundamental rethinking of oil exploration around the world."Certainly, we are not indifferent to their future. ... Hopefully, they can absorb the losses."BP shares are down 44% since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded at the end of April killing 11 workers. They almost halved at one stage.The company's Russian joint venture TNK-BP is the third largest oil producer in the country, representing almost a quarter of its oil production."What I know is that BP will have to pay a lot of money this year," Medvedev said when asked about how Russia's view of BP had changed. "Whether the company can digest those expenditures, whether they will lead to the annihilation of the company or its breakup into pieces is a matter of expediency." Today's comments follow yesterday's eight hour-long assault on BP chief Tony Hayward by US politicians on Capitol Hill, accusing the oil man of ignoring the risks his company was taking drilling a mile down in the Gulf of Mexico. There was "not a single e-mail or document that you paid even the slightest attention to the dangers at this well," Henry Waxman, joint chairman of the House committee on energy and commerce, told a subdued Hayward Thursday. The Briton said he was "deeply sorry" for the spill, the worst environmental disaster in US history. His grilling came just a day after BP agreed to pay $20bn into a fund to pay for the clean-up of the spill while it also cancelled its dividends for the remainder of this year.