(Ask the pelicans of Queen Bess Island what BP owes./Coast Guard photo)
If Congress keeps BP from drilling new wells in the Gulf of Mexico, the company says it may not be able to keep its much advertised committment to "make this right." Also, people should stop asking BP for more. From the New York Times:
[A]s state and federal officials, individuals and businesses continue to seek additional funds beyond the minimum fines and compensation that BP must pay under the law, the company has signaled its reluctance to cooperate unless it can continue to operate in the Gulf of Mexico.
For the record, BP says it will keep its commitments for a $20 billion fund for damages and fines, $100 million for rig workers idled by the moratorium (not so many, it turns out), and $500 million to research the effects of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
The problem for BP is that if the federal government puts a crimp in production, BP will feel pain. Seriously, that's the problem. "If we are unable to keep those fields going, that is going to have a substantial impact on our cash flow," said BP America exec David Nagle tells the Times. That "makes it harder for us to fund things, fund these programs."
Nagle sounds like a kid who gets grounded and then complains to his parents that he's missing the fun on Saturday night. Yes, as the claims and penalties roll in, BP is going to feel pain. What's really wrong here is that BP won't feel nearly enough pain. The company has been among the world's most profitable for a long time. The latest Fortune 500 rankings show BP as the fourth largest corporation, with profits -- profits, not revenue -- of $16,578,000,000.
With $16.578 billion sloshing around, BP and its shareholders still cut corners as they went about the risky business of oil production. And now BP and its shareholders can use some of those billions to pay for what they've done.
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That was the point. BP ought to be feeling some of the pain...preferably quite a lot of it.
Carolinaladywithfan
I hope you're OK after Earl.
Thank all y'all who were concerned.
Earl blew northward along the Outer Banks and never came inland. We're fine.
Glad to hear it.
Why am I not surprised? Of course, they've spent 93 million on advertising.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/09/bp-gulf-spill-advertising-/1?csp=obinsite
*&^#$%$ disgusting.
So when did blackmail become legal?
What would be fair would be to make them eat nothing but seafood contaminated by crude and dispersant. After all, its no more toxic than dishsoap, right?
BP will try everything they can NOT TO PAY unless they can get a cut from it.
It seems like it might be difficult for them to pay if Obama won't let them do the work that makes them money. The spill would never have been so bad if the environmentalists wouldn't have forced BP to drill so deep. So now Obama wants them to close down shop, pay billions of dollars to people that aren't working on the rigs because Obama won't allow them to drill. If he allowed them to drill then people could get their jobs back faster therefore, not needing a handout for years to come. Letting them drill would also mean an increase in taxes coming in. But no, Obama wants to send the rigs to Brazil so they can make money for Petrobras, which just happens to be a company that Obama's good buddy George Soros happens to have $800 million invested in.
Mark...that's like saying that I would never have raped you if you had not worn that sexy tank top! I don't think that you remember the big 3 automakers lobbying Los Angeles in the 40's and 50's to get rid of their public transportation, so that they could sell more cars! That is a real conspiracy Mark, not
George Soros sitting on the grassy knoll in Texas. Wait till B.P. gets their insurance check cashed....they won't be spending it on the people of America. P.S. hey Mark there are commies under your bed! B.P Had 40 billion, yes billion, in cash as of the day of the original spill. They have had an oil rig blow up, then tried to cover up the safety violations. They have had safety violation after safety violation.....when is it enough? Keep sticking that heroin needle full of oil in your arm.
BP drills where they think they can make money. It has nothing to do with environmentalists. The well failure was "so bad" because of the lack of proper precautions, bypassing and ignoring engineering controls, and inadequate contingency planning/preparedness on the part of BP and their subcontractor Transocean.
Not so many jobs were affected by the rigs that were closed:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/us/25drill.html?_r=1
Yeah, sorta like I'm never buying their gas again?
Honestly, the first thing that comes to my mind is an oil enema for BP. Large and forcefully sort of... to the freaks in charge of this mess...
Maggie, oooooooooo, oil enema for BP; interesting!
Flaming oil enema!
so.. the Justice Dept sorta counters with murder charges, confiscates their assets, appoints a third-rate Public Defender, etc.
I do sooo disdain violence.
Even oil enemas, even for BP. Oooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhh how horribly, horribly graphic!
I toured the oil spill, even passed by Queen Bess Island, you'd get the picture too. Horribly, Horribly graphic!
I wonder if the new oil rig fire will give them the out they need to shrug off the gulf disaster. "Look Gulf! We aren't the only ones doing poorly on control. How can we be responsible for all the damage to the whole gulf. BP isn't the only contributor to the environmental damage." I see this as their argument. I could just be paranoid and cynical.
BP just got hit with the largest safety fine in history for not doing what they promised after getting the then largest safety fine in history when a refinery blew up in Texas, killing people, the result of poorly maintained equipment and an absolute disregard of safety. They have absolutely proven themselves incapable of extracting and refining oil safely.
The history of BP is one idiot decision after another after another at all levels of management until something blows up. It is not so much they are greedy ( they are ) but that they are simply a very poorly managed and incompetent company.
But when you are worth a gazillion dollars you can move from disaster to disaster, buying some third world country or the Louisiana Legislature and nobody will stop you.
As a pure business decision, giving new leases or renewing old leases to incompetent BP would be stupid, stupid stupid.
When they say they man not be able to find the money to pay damages, what I hear is they are asking for a bankruptcy Judge to help them out. Or given all their assets and low stock price, some raider to swoop in and break them up and sell off the assets. Either way would be good for the public, good for the oil workers and good for the oil industry. Any other oil company out there would be an improvement. That is not an opinion, it is a matter of public record.
I have created a website dedicated to the situation that we are in concerning our energy dependency. I work on it in my spare time, but it is up and running. Please visit, especially the "media" section, and come back often as I am making this work in progress a life long cause.
pail-n-pack.com
www.pail-n-pack.com
Do they pay taxes on oil they don't pump out? They seem to drill a lot then cap them and leave them. large companies get enough from state and local governments to send us all a check. If these companies ever pay the taxes they should ,stop paying lobbyist and PR firms, and lining the pockets of corrupt/ambitious politicians we would all benefit.