Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico: a $32 bln disaster for BP!
It’s been 100 days since the oil well ruptured and since 11 Deepwater Horizon workers died after the fatal explosion released the Eco tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico. And after BP finally managed to seal the leaking well and stop the oil spill, the environment is starting to look cleaner and safer. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was the worst environment disaster in the history of the United States!
Millions of barrels of oil leaked into the sea and spewed from a mile below, spreading on the beaches, forcing fisherman to close their businesses, threatening the wild life from the Gulf. Not mentioning the tourism in the Louisiana area. It is practically dead!
In the meantime, BP’s chief executive Tony Hayward resigned from the British Petroleum and got a £1 million payoff and a pension of £500k. This event was a “wake-up call” for all the oil industry.
The new BP official is Bob Dudley, the first American to lead the British oil company who will replace Hayward from Oct. 1. Safety will be one of his main priorities. BP has lost its reputation since the disaster broke loose and it was even harder hit when BP made an official statement that it would offset the cost of the spill against its taxes, meaning the U.S taxpayers will pay almost $10 billion for the whole oil spill.
And this is only the beginning of a bad era for BP. The oil giant reported a second-quarter loss of $17 billion. Also, let’s not forget about the $32 billion in charges related to the oil spill, this is the largest in the history of the United States. In order to help the company cover its liabilities, there are rumors that BP will sell $30 billion in assets in the next 18 months.
But there are also good news: the oil slick is dissolving very quickly and no oil had gushed from the well for almost two weeks now. The oil spill was stopped on July 15 (after 86 days of oil gushing from the well) when BP managed to install a tight-fitting cap and then the valves were gradually closed.
You say “BP made an official statement that it would offset the cost of the spill against its taxes, meaning the U.S taxpayers will pay almost $10 billion for the whole oil spill.” Any business is allowed to deduct expenses from their revenue when they report income. The clean-up effort is an expense. Finally the US taxpayer WILL NOT pay $10 billion for the clean up, BP will pay for all of the clean-up. Uncle Sam will just receive less tax revenues because of this expense… Way to spin the facts.