BP shares rise as Deepwater Horizon well repairs progress 'as planned'

[Right Lane Cruiser]

Update comes amid speculation that BP could face hostile takeover from US rival ExxonMobil

Richard Wray - GUARDIAN - July 12, 2010

What will the future of oil availability look like? --Ed.

Shares in BP rose more than 5% in early trading today as the oil firm said the latest attempt to cap the gushing well in the Gulf of Mexico is proceeding "as planned".

In an update on the progress of work to try to cap the damaged well, which began over the weekend, BP said it removed the original cap on the failed blow-out preventer on Saturday afternoon, local time. While that means oil is now gushing unhindered into the sea, the next step is to install what BP calls a "capping stack" that should contain the whole flow.

The update, which put the cost of the clean-up at $3.5bn (£2.33bn) so far, comes amid speculation that BP could be facing a hostile takeover from a rival firm, which has also helped push BP shares higher. They were up 17.75p at 382.55p, having earlier touched 386p. The company is vulnerable, having seen its share price plunge since the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed 11 people on 20 April. Weekend reports suggested the Obama administration has told ExxonMobil – the world's largest oil firm – that it would not stand in the way of a takeover bid for the stricken British rival. A merger would create a group with a stock market value of $400bn .

Tony Hayward, BP's chief executive, is only too aware of the precarious position of his company and has spent the past two weeks trying to sign so-called white knight investors from among some of the world's most wealthy sovereign states. He is understood to have... [Read More]

[chibougamoo]

Share prices going up is probably the result of speculators, who mistakenly think a vast part of Joe Public will continue to have short little memory spans, and "forgive and forget".

Sorry, I'm of that breed that will NEVER forget roasted group of 40 or so dolphins and that whale with the red topside, let alone reports of burning rare turtles (shown in loving HD on CNN) and birds basted in thick crude oil. We are trying to enjoy the songbirds around here, while knowing their flight path takes them right through the Zone of Death (created thanks to BP and lax government oversight). As for those denigrating remarks about "little people" --- for me, that was insight into to the equivalent of BP's "soul" (or lack thereof).

The current "ban" on ANY reporters getting within 65 feet of clean -up is just one more indication that these guys will lie and hide anything controversial. (I know, I know, there are lots of people to blame for this one). This shows that they ALL think transparency be damned.

Well guess what, BP ... no more purchases of anything BP from me. Period. Sorry for the gas-station franchisees, but you KNEW which way the wind blew with the 2005 Texas City oil refinery explosion (there is a demonstrated history of callousnous here).

And if my Prius should run out of gas, right in front of a BP gas station, then it's time for me to get out and push, or to off-load the folding bike, and find some other poxied gas station (because I doubt that the others are much better, but BP is the worst bad guy on the block).

[Butterfly Mage]

I know I will never spend a penny at BP. The damage they did will take centuries for nature to undo.