The demand

Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will meet with BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg and other executives.

Setting the tone for what could be a strong message to BP, Obama said on Tuesday he would tell the BP chairman "he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company's recklessness."

And this fund will not be controlled by BP. In order to ensure that all legitimate claims are paid out in a fair and timely manner, the account must and will be administered by an independent, third party," Obama said.

BP said in a statement its executives look forward to a constructive meeting. "We share the president's goal of shutting off the well as quickly as possible, cleaning up the oil and mitigating the impact," the company said.

James Guiang, senior portfolio manager at Millennium Global Natural Resources Fund, said BP needed to cut a deal with Obama. "Whenever you go up against a government, you're not going to win," he said. ...Reuters