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[albitz]

A lot about this in the news recently, anyone got any strong opinions on the subject ?

[Richie London]

looks like cameron has sided with obama, doesnt want to upset the anti british president does he

[Nickbat]

A lot about this in the news recently, anyone got any strong opinions on the subject ?

Plenty. 

There's a great deal of anti-BP rhetoric coming out of the States right now, courtesy of Obama, but why is there no mention of Transocean, the US company that was handling the drilling?

Secondly, personally demonising the CEO of BP is hardly fair. Apparently, his family and children have been subjected to abuse and hate mail. Whilst he is head of the company, he was not personally responsible for the failure of the blowback valve.

It may be true that, with the benefit of hindsight, better secondary blow-back systems should have been used, but technology and exploration is littered with accidents that could have been prevented with the benefit of hindsight, e.g. Apollo 13, Columbus. And while some Americans are baying for blood over this, where is the outcry about Warren Anderson, chairman of the US-based Union Carbide Corporation at the time of the Bhopal incident? Yep, living in a nice mansion in NY.

It should be mentioned, of course, Obama has stood firmly against more onshore drilling, thus encouraging oil companies to go offshore into ever deeper waters.

Sh*t happens, especially when you are dealing with cutting-edge exploration. It is sad that it happened and no doubt lessons can be learned, but Obama is turning it into a crusade against BP, probably to divert attention from his own limp response. Plus the fact that he really doesn't like us Brits anyway.

Finally, and I cannot vouch for this, I read the following: In World II five million tons of petroleum were cast into the Atlantic (about 32 million barrels of oil) from tanker ships sunk by Nazi submarines, in a period from 1942 to 1945, and with heavy concentration in the fateful year of 1942. Averaged over 1000 days the loss is equivalent to two to five times the oil now spilled into the Gulf of Mexico – every day – for the duration of the war.

BP has agreed to pick up the bill for the clean-up and to do whatever is necessary to stop the leak (which they seem to be achieving). What more can the company do? Presumably, a few Americans will not be happy until Tony Hayward is publicly beheaded. They can be such hypocritical tw*ts.

 
      

[theolodian]

The error that you and the UK government are making is to concentrate on the US government opinion of BP et al.  What you should be worrying about is the US public opinion of the UK stemming from this.

How would you feel about France if a company called French Petroleum had spilled this much oil 30 miles off Cornwall when they promissed in their application for a drilling permit that they could handle any possible spill, it coated half the beaches in the UK, destroyed sensitive wildlife areas, destroyed the entire UK fishing industry for 20 years, and destroyed all UK tourism for 10 years?

This is a major disaster in the US that is being talked about affecting generations economically on top of the immediate effects.

[Banjax]

the buck, as they say, stops with the CEO, surely - personally as ive said earlier - i think BP could potentially be accused of putting profit before safety (crazy as that sounds) ironic that it may end up bankrupting them and taking thousands of US jobs with it 

[Nickbat]

The error that you and the UK government are making is to concentrate on the US government opinion of BP et al.  What you should be worrying about is the US public opinion of the UK stemming from this.

How would you feel about France if a company called French Petroleum had spilled this much oil 30 miles off Cornwall when they promissed in their application for a drilling permit that they could handle any possible spill, it coated half the beaches in the UK, destroyed sensitive wildlife areas, destroyed the entire UK fishing industry for 20 years, and destroyed all UK tourism for 10 years?

This is a major disaster in the US that is being talked about affecting generations economically on top of the immediate effects.

With Obama cynically whipping up the anti against BP and the UK , there is little we can do about US public opinion - which is fickle at the best of times. The oil's been spilled and BP have pledged to pay for the clean-up. May I remind you of the Exxon Valdez? Bhopal? Chernobyl? Three-Mile Island? Accidents and incidents will always happen. We have to learn from errors, make good, and move on.   

[Banjax]

to be fair to Obama, BP is one of the largest donors to political parties in the US, roughly splitting it 72% republican /28% democrat - bet BP were wishing that was 50/50 now , or a Bush was still in power

[albitz]

Im not an expert on any of this but the facts as I understand them are as follows.
The company isnt called British petroleum, it changed to simply BP to reflect the fact that it is a global corporation. It (or part of it)is listed on the London stock exchange, but I believe other parts of it are listed on Wall St.
Huge amounts of revenue from most British pension funds are invested in BP and when its shares fall those pension funds fall with it.
The oil rig which collapsed wasnt owned by BP but was owned by an American company.
BP didnt actually run the rig as such but sub contracted the bulk of that job to an American company.
The impression I have is that BP put up the money and hung their sign on the front and not much more.
The BP director who was responsible for the area which the rig was in isnt British but American.
BP is a very important supplier of oil to the U.S. market, it has a lot of expertise and they were only to happy to grant them licences to drill in the more difficult/ risky locations.A lot of its assets are also U.S. based.
Obama knows the effect his little speeches are having on the capital worth of the company, but he doesnt care, he is in trouble at home, the honeymoon is over the mask is slipping and the people who voted for him are starting to beleive they were conned.
If he can try to turn that around or at least distract attention from it by bigoted,xenophobic,partisan political point scoring against the British (even though its a global corporation and he knows it) he aint going to lose any sleep over it. I dont think he is remotely interested in a "special relationship" with the UK
Finally, does anyone remember the Piper Alpha disaster in the North sea in he late 80,s ?
Iirc there were 167 ? lives lost when the oil rig caught fire and fell into the sea.An American oil company employing British workers and ignoring proper Health and Safety practises - what happened ? did our government stir up anti American hatred, try to ruin the company concerned etc ? ? I think our response was somewhat more helpful,balanced, dignified and less desperate.
Norman Tebbit said today that Obama,s handling of the situation was "despicable", I would tend to agree with him.

[Nickbat]

Im not an expert on any of this but the facts as I understand them are as follows.
The company isnt called British petroleum, it changed to simply BP to reflect the fact that it is a global corporation. It (or part of it)is listed on the London stock exchange, but I believe other parts of it are listed on Wall St.
Huge amounts of revenue from most British pension funds are invested in BP and when its shares fall those pension funds fall with it.
The oil rig which collapsed wasnt owned by BP but was owned by an American company.
BP didnt actually run the rig as such but sub contracted the bulk of that job to an American company.
The impression I have is that BP put up the money and hung their sign on the front and not much more.
The BP director who was responsible for the area which the rig was in isnt British but American.
BP is a very important supplier of oil to the U.S. market, it has a lot of expertise and they were only to happy to grant them licences to drill in the more difficult/ risky locations.A lot of its assets are also U.S. based.
Obama knows the effect his little speeches are having on the capital worth of the company, but he doesnt care, he is in trouble at home, the honeymoon is over the mask is slipping and the people who voted for him are starting to beleive they were conned.
If he can try to turn that around or at least distract attention from it by bigoted,xenophobic,partisan political point scoring against the British (even though its a global corporation and he knows it) he aint going to lose any sleep over it. I dont think he is remotely interested in a "special relationship" with the UK
Finally, does anyone remember the Piper Alpha disaster in the North sea in he late 80,s ?
Iirc there were 167 ? lives lost when the oil rig caught fire and fell into the sea.An American oil company employing British workers and ignoring proper Health and Safety practises - what happened ? did our government stir up anti American hatred, try to ruin the company concerned etc ? ? I think our response was somewhat more helpful,balanced, dignified and less desperate.
Norman Tebbit said today that Obama,s handling of the situation was "despicable", I would tend to agree with him.

Yes, Occidental. Did we cry out like baying wolves for the blood of Oxy's CEO? Don't recall it, myself. 

[Dishevelled Den]

The error that you and the UK government are making is to concentrate on the US government opinion of BP et al.  What you should be worrying about is the US public opinion of the UK stemming from this.

How would you feel about France if a company called French Petroleum had spilled this much oil 30 miles off Cornwall when they promissed in their application for a drilling permit that they could handle any possible spill, it coated half the beaches in the UK, destroyed sensitive wildlife areas, destroyed the entire UK fishing industry for 20 years, and destroyed all UK tourism for 10 years?

This is a major disaster in the US that is being talked about affecting generations economically on top of the immediate effects.

to concentrate on the US government opinion of BP et al. 

As I see it T it's quite reasonable to consider this to be an Administration based onslaught in light of the forthcoming elections in November, President Obama's current approval rating and the likelihood that the Democrats will have their asses handed to them by a disgruntled public in said election.

[Nickbat]

to be fair to Obama, BP is one of the largest donors to political parties in the US, roughly splitting it 72% republican /28% democrat - bet BP were wishing that was 50/50 now , or a Bush was still in power

Oh, I think Barry did OK out of BP, Banjax. 

"Obama biggest recipient of BP cash"

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/36783.html

[Nickbat]

As I see it T it's quite reasonable to consider this to be an Administration based onslaught in light of the forthcoming elections in November, President Obama's current approval rating and the likelihood that the Democrats will have their asses handed to them by a disgruntled public in said election.

Nail > Head, Zulu. 

[Martin_1962]

The more Obama goes on the more I hate him, how would Clintons wife coped?

The Americans now know what happened with Blair and us

[Banjax]

to be fair to Obama, BP is one of the largest donors to political parties in the US, roughly splitting it 72% republican /28% democrat - bet BP were wishing that was 50/50 now , or a Bush was still in power

Oh, I think Barry did OK out of BP, Banjax. 

"Obama biggest recipient of BP cash"

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/36783.html

obviously wasnt enough  but BP did donate far more to the republicans, even if Barack was the largest single recipient - refreshing to see you dont always get the president you paid for 

[cem_devecioglu]

here is another factor ; if BP goes in trouble , a simple wind ooops, oil prices will increase.. so the cartels in us will earn more and some strong share holders

and also an operation to iran is waiting , why..

dont think the only reason is nukes..