Top BP executives, including board chairman Svanberg and Chief Executive Hayward met with U.S. President Obama and several of his top aides Wednesday morning at the White House.

BP Chairman Svanberg announced BP will cancel dividend payments for the first three quarters of the year including the previously announced first quarter dividend due on June 21st.

Some of the industries devastated by the BP oil spill are: the U.S. seafood industry; the U.S. tourism industry in the states of Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi; the U.S. offshore drilling industry; the restaurant industry in the four states previously mentioned (also restaurants in other states may be affected if the cost of seafood rises); the wildlife and fisheries industries in the four previously mentioned states; the oil and gas industries; the real estate market (especially for waterfront properties in the states along the U.S. Gulf Coast); etc.

However, there's no doubt that the BP oil spill is resuscitating the legal profession on both sides of the pond - generating lots of legal work in the U.S. and the U.K.!

I grew up in New Orleans and have an office in Miami. So I know from first hand experience how these industries are being devastated by this oil spill. Also, who knows what this oil spill will do in the long term to the environment and the health of the people living, working and drinking the water in these affected areas.

I truly hope - for all the parties involved on both sides of the pond - there is a good ending to this very sad story!

BP is preparing to defer payment of its next dividend to shareholders by placing the money in an escrow account until the full scale of its liabilities from the Gulf of Mexico disaster can be determined.

BP said no decision has yet been taken on the dividend and will not be taken until next quarter's results.