BP, a Hero

By close of business today (Friday 04th June 2010), an estimated 22 million gallons of oil would have spilled into the Gulf. This is equivalent to a massive 500 000 barrels of oil so far spilled into the Gulf. To date nothing has worked in BP’s favor in their quest to prevent the oil leaking out. As the world’s eyes are now fixed on the top cap which is reported to be already in place and collecting oil,  just how much oil is being collected and whether this method is successful or not is still a mystery.

While everyone is focused on the inevitable destruction to the environment and the effects this disaster would have on the animals of the Gulf, lets take a step back and look at what this has cost BP so far.

At the time of writing this article, Crude oil was selling at US$71.94 / barrel so  from the 500, 000 barrels lost from the spill, BP would have lost some US$35.97 million. Also, at the start of the week, BP announced that what it has spent in trying to contain the oil in the Gulf was just shy of a billion dollars (US), US$990 million to be precise. The company has also lost a rig, eleven lives, a huge portion of its shares in the stock market, not to mention the trust of its largest market and the destruction it has caused would have been a headache for any insurance company to cover. Fortunately for insurance providers large companies like BP insure themselves so BP will cover all the costs acquired as a result of this spill. BP has also announced that it will pay for the damage and that could be anywhere between US$3 billion to US$40 billion.

Now, for a company to go through all that has happened, faced the criticisms of  everyone, be investigated for criminal charges even risk losing business yet be able to take responsibility and take the lead in cleaning up its own mess, I say BP should be commended for this.

Hats off for BP