The chief executive of the British oil company BP, Tony Hayward, and the company itself have been severely criticised at a hearing of the United States Congress into the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in April.

The chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Henry Waxman, said BP's corporate complacency had been astonishing.

Mr Hayward said he was there to account for the company's actions, and assured the American people BP would honour its commitment to compensate those affected.

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