"We don't think there should be an arbitrary cap on corporate responsibility," Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The panel was looking into legislative proposals to lift significantly, or scrap entirely, a 75-million-dollar ceiling on the economic damages that big energy firms are responsible for under existing law.

Amid a public outcry against energy giant BP over the Deepwater Horizon disaster, US President Barack Obama's administration had previously embraced the idea of raising the limit, but had not set a dollar amount.

Energy firms are already responsible for all clean-up costs, can face lawsuits from those harmed by a spill, and the cap on economic damages does not apply in cases of gross negligence, Perrelli said.

Pressed by the committee's top Republican, Senator Lisa Murkowksi, Perrelli clarified that scrapping the cap entirely would affect companies in the future that are engaged in "activities like deepwater drilling" or other work that "could result in a similar major oil spill."

In those cases, "our view is that there should not be that arbitrary cap," said Perrelli, who stressed that the administration did not seek an end to the limits in all cases of economic damages.

The official also assured the lawmakers that the Obama administration "will explore all legal avenues to make sure that those responsible for this disaster pay for all of the devastation that they have caused."

"Our mandate is to make sure that we recover every dime that the United States government spends for the removal of the oil and the damages caused by this catastrophe," he said.

US lawmakers have pushed to raise a company's liability for economic damages stemming from a spill, some calling for raising the ceiling to 10 billion dollars or even scrapping it altogether, others saying it should be measured against previous profits.

Still others have warned that setting too high a figure could drive small or mid-size firms out of the offshore drilling business.

"I think we need to take the time to ensure that we are building good policy on this," said the committee's top Republican, Lisa Murkowski, who stressed she had not yet settled on an approach.

But Murkowski said energy firms already faced "unlimited cleanup" liability, could face "unlimited lawsuits" from those harmed by a spill, and warned against setting an "arbitrary" figure that could cost jobs.

earlier related report
Growing following for fake BP Twitter account
Washington (AFP) May 25, 2010 - The Twitter account claims to be that of British Petroleum's public relations department but the messages are a little bit, well, odd for a company battling a massive oil spill.

"Please do NOT take or clean any oil you find on the beach. That is the property of British Petroleum and we WILL sue you," reads one "tweet" from the account @BPGlobalPR.

"If we had a dollar for every complaint about this oil spill, it wouldn't compare to our current fortune. Oil is a lucrative industry!" says another.

"Proud to announce that BP will be sponsoring the New Orleans Blues Festival this summer w/special tribute to Muddy Waters," reads a third.

The fake account was created on May 19 by an unknown Twitter user and has quickly attracted nearly 20,000 followers -- four times more than the real BP Twitter account @BP_America.

Other messages on @BPGlobalPR:

- "The good news: Mermaids are real. The bad news: They are now extinct."

- "The ocean looks just a bit slimmer today. Dressing it in black really did the trick!"

- "Thousands of people are attacked by sea creatures every year. We at BP are dedicated to bringing that number down. You're welcome!"

Toby Odone, a BP spokesman, told Advertising Age that the company is aware of the fake account but has apparently not taken any steps to have it removed.

"I'm not aware of whether BP has made any calls to have it taken down or addressed," Odone told Ad Age. "People are entitled to their views on what we're doing and we have to live with those.

"We are doing the best we can to deal with the current situation and to try to stop the oil from flowing and to then clean it up," Odone said.

The @BPGlobalPR feed is not the only attempt at humor on Twitter regarding the oil spill.

Another account, @common_oil_spil, purports to be the Twitter feed of the oil spill itself.

It spits out terse messages such as "belch" and "glug, glug, glug" or references to the various attempts to plug the well such as "golf balls?"

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