Spill kill bill

6 January 2011 By Chris Hughes

The UK oil major’s shares have shrugged off a damning White House report into the Gulf of Mexico spill. It’s still hard to be confident about the final tab for the disaster. But based on the latest estimates, a Breakingviews calculator suggests investors are on the bearish side.

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BP and its partners made a series of costcutting decisions that ultimately contributed to the oil spill that ravaged the Gulf of Mexico coast over the summer, the White House oil spill commission said on Jan. 5.

In its final report on causes of the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, the commission said BP and its collaborators on the doomed Macondo well had lacked a system to ensure their actions were safe.

"Whether purposeful or not, many of the decisions that BP, Halliburton, and Transocean made that increased the risk of the Macondo blowout clearly saved those companies significant time (and money)," the report said.

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