Dudley: BP will not 'fix and then run'

NEW ORLEANS, July 30 (UPI) -- BP's incoming chief says the company will not abandon Gulf of Mexico residents once it finishes capping the leaking well that caused the oil spill disaster.

Current BP Managing Director Bob Dudley, who will take over for the departing Tony Hayward as chief executive officer, said BP has made a "long-term commitment" to the region, CNN reported Friday.

"We'll be here for years," Dudley said during a visit to Mississippi.

He called the spill a "catastrophe" and a "real wake-up call for change" that the company would "treat ... as an opportunity to change for the better."

Meanwhile, BP announced a $100 million fund to support unemployed oil rig workers experiencing economic hardship during the deepwater drilling moratorium imposed by the Obama administration.

The Rig Worker Assistance Fund "fulfills the commitment" BP made to provide $100 million in assistance "as a gesture of good will for the people of the gulf region," the company said in a statement.