President Obama sat down with top BP executives at the White House on Wednesday in a highly anticipated meeting that follows repeated administration insistences the company must pick up the tab for the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.

The meeting between Obama and BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg was also attended by Vice President Joe Biden, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Attorney General Eric Holder, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, among others, according to an administration official.

Also representing BP: company CEO Tony Hayward and Managing Director Bob Dudley, along with BP America CEO Lamar McKay.

The meeting was expected to last roughly two hours, according to a senior administration official.

Referring to the meeting Wednesday, Obama said he would tell Svanberg "that 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."

The fund will be controlled not by BP, but by an independent, third party, he said.

In a statement, BP said, "We share the president's goal of shutting off the well as quickly as possible, cleaning up the oil and mitigating the impact on the people and environment of the Gulf Coast. We look forward to meeting with President Obama ... for a constructive discussion about how best to achieve these mutual goals."

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