BP establishes $20 billion escrow account to pay claims

Read the New York Times story here. The excerpt that follows suggests tough negotiating by the Obama administration:

The $20 billion fund announced on Wednesday will be administered by Kenneth R. Feinberg, the lawyer and mediator who ran the fund for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks and has emerged as a troubleshooter on issues like executive compensation and resolving claims for asbestos and Agent Orange victims.

While acknowledging that oil is likely to continue spewing from the well for perhaps months to come, Mr. Obama was able to throw something of a lifeline to desperate coastal residents worried about meeting payrolls, mortgages and shrimp boat payments.

Under the famous portrait of a charging Theodore Roosevelt on horseback, administration and company officials haggled over last details in an extraordinary White House meeting that went more than four hours, double the time scheduled, and was punctuated by breaks as each side huddled separately.

Ultimately, the deal was sealed in a private session between President Obama and BP's chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg.

Here is the Times coverage of BP CEO Tony Hayward's Congressional testimony today.