Obama and British PM Cameron: BP Should Remain "A Strong and Stable Company"

[amborin]

"The US President and British Prime Minister said that the stricken oil giant should "remain a strong and stable company" after meeting to discuss the environmental disaster on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Toronto. The discussions come amid growing worries that the company could never recover from the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which has left BP facing unquantifiable costs and damaged its strategic ambitions.
The two leaders said that the company should "meet its obligations to cap the leak, clean up the damage and meet legitimate compensation claims," but added that "it was to both countries' advantage for BP to remain a strong and stable company."

The comments come after shares in the company dropped to a 14-year low on Friday, down 6.4pc to 298.36p, knocking 15 points off the FTSE 100 index of blue-chip shares. Almost £66bn has been wiped from the value of the company since the rig explosion on April 20 and subsequent leak, more than halving BP's market capitalisation.
Many expect a slight recovery this week as one major concern – that the company's Gulf repair efforts would be beset by the arrival of tropical storm Alex – was alleviated on Sunday. Forecasts suggest the area will escape a pounding by Alex.
BP has, however, seen a sharp increase in its funding costs, as investors take fright. They worry about the ballooning cost of the clean-up operation, which has now reached $2.35bn, including $126m of claims. Costs are expected to spike much higher, with Mr Obama forcing BP to set aside $20bn in an escrow account to fund the clean-up and relief efforts.

Another fear is the threat posed by politicians in the US, many of whom are fighting their mid-term elections and have attacked BP vociferously.
The Obama-Cameron meeting had been intended by the Prime Minister to quell speculation that the US President was gunning for BP.
On Friday he warned against the possible "destruction" of the company if the retribution became too intense.


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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7857981/BP-oil-spill-Barack-Obama-and-David-Cameron-agree-BP-must-not-collapse.html

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/

[RB TexLa]

1. If investors feel they are worth the money to keep them that way they should, if not then you have

to own your failure. There are other oil companies that can buy up their assets and produce.

[htuttle]

2. BOHICA