if guilty...what price will BP pay...??

[Hatterized]

truly an enviromental and economic disaster that will have long lasting affects.....

SO

if found at fault/responsible...WILL BP be fined a RECORD AMOUNT for the cleanup and economic recovery resulting from the closed fisheries.......?

OR

will they get a small slap on the wrist with a minimal fine kind of like the financial institutions....remember what they did to our economy....and in the end...many of the them were rewarded for their ignorance and greed .....

[Deep C]

There was a story in our local paper that they are already maneuvering. Offering $2000 a day to out of work fishermen to assist in the clean up in exchange for them not suing... They closed parts of Mississippi, LA, Alabama, and Florida to all fishing so far.
On the east coast warnings are starting to go up. Originally they though only remote chance and the last news casts have changed from "If" to "When"...

Yeah BP will pay the bill but we know what that really means... You and I will payfor it at the pump. Price shot up seven cents in last couple days here already...

[Glenn W]

Unlike the mentality of Hatterized, it would seem there should be clear a distinction between BP's obligation to pay for the direct and indirect costs of this tragedy and any fines or punitive actions taken against the Company due to neglegence. It appears there is little question that BP was the operator of the rig and thus, responsible for harm or costs imposed on others. It's an entirely different matter to imply that fines are in order (at least at this time).
Fines may or may not be appropriate as this situation seems to be much different than the Exxon Valdez incident-- but time will tell.
If BP is found responsible ( which it likely will be) and negligence is found to have occured, there wil be hell to pay financially for BP. On the other hand, if the BOV failed after a valid inspection and all safty proceedures were carefully adhered to, I'm not sure that fines are ( or will be) in order. This does not mean that BP would not be held accountable for the indirect costs of the spill--- such as lost wages to fishermen, etc.
References to "ignorance" and/or "greed" are clearly premature at this point and may not ever be appropriate in this instance.
One thing is for sure, BP will be defending itself on all claims to mitigate its financial exposure.
The mere fact that that BP will have a financial obligation to pay for this clean up will have no measurable impact on world oil prices or prices at the pump. However, should this accident lead to future restrictions on supply or impose greater costs to the industry to extract oil and natural gas from the earth, oil prices will reflect this.
The increase that Paul refered to reflects the continuing increase in world prices that have been occuring since last winter as well as short term concerns last week that delivery of imports could be hampered by closing ports and off shore terminals in the Gulf region due to the spill.
As of this morning (5/3) crude oil prices are down about 28 cents/bbl from Friday even though the prognosis for damage and ultimate total costs have grown considerably since Friday.

[Big Jay]

From what I've been hearing: The gov't has a trust for clean ups in place. BP will be allowed to take from this short term, but have to pay it back in full over time. I have no comment on this. I know many will say "gov't bailout". Personally, I don't care where the money comes from as long as this gets cleaned up.

Second, this loop current BS is media sensationalism. Is it possible? Yes. A lot is possible. This is just another ploy to sell papers at this point. The wind has been dictating where this oil is going more than anything. The media is going to hit this from every angle. That's what they do.

Halliburton is being asked to surrender documents on the concrete slurry mix they used to pump around the casing for drilling. This was 20 hours prior to the explosion that they worked on the rig.

At this point I doubt this was sabotage/malicious intent. However, the ripple effect will be quite far. The initial lawsuits and financial burden will hit BP. Then BP will pass it off via more lawsuits to companies they contracted...like Halliburton. Halliburton is the largest deepwater drilling contractor in the Gulf.

[perfectscore]

this will take 20 years to sort out just like exxon. everyone will sue each other back and forth and your kids will finally see the court's ruling. these stocks are a total buy, bp is a buy even if they cut div,

[marine4003]

truly an enviromental and economic disaster that will have long lasting affects.....

SO

if found at fault/responsible...WILL BP be fined a RECORD AMOUNT for the cleanup and economic recovery resulting from the closed fisheries.......?

OR

will they get a small slap on the wrist with a minimal fine kind of like the financial institutions....remember what they did to our economy....and in the end...many of the them were rewarded for their ignorance and greed .....

I'm gonna disagree here..the mess started with the U.S.Government pushing the financial institutions to hand out money to those who were not able to repay it..sub-prime loans..and NO-DOC loans, as i understand it, there were penalty's for non compliance..so to try and recover some of these shaky loans, the mortgage company's bundled these risky loans and sold them as high risk investments..do keep in mind that we are a capitalist society,and everyone has a right to make a buck..so if someone is to blame for this mess...its UNCLE SAM.

[Glenn W]

this will take 20 years to sort out just like exxon. everyone will sue each other back and forth and your kids will finally see the court's ruling. these stocks are a total buy, bp is a buy even if they cut div,

Actually, Not including direct clean up costs, Exxon paid huge sums within 2 years of the spill. For example the State of Alaska was paid $410 million by 1992 ( the spill was in '89 I believe) which still has a state trust fund. The Federal trust fund is overseen by Congress and Exxon made contributions of over a $billion to the Federal Trust in the early '90's. In addition, Exxon was assessed and paid well over $2 billion in actual clean up costs.
I believe the long term court battle your are referring to is the punitive damage appeals that (I believe) are still in the Courts. It must be remembered though that these are just the punitive damages, actual compensatory damages and trust fund fines were paid fairly promptly.
When it comes to the fines imposed on Exxon it should be remembered that Exxon's biggest monetary liability was its own arrogance to the spill and the CEO's thumbing his nose at the U.S. and Alaska Governments--- of course Exxon's negligence in running a ship aground on a well marked channel with an unlicensed mate at the helm while the Captain was sleeping a drunk off didn't help matters either

[hubris 1]

this will take 20 years to sort out just like exxon. everyone will sue each other back and forth and your kids will finally see the court's ruling. these stocks are a total buy, bp is a buy even if they cut div,

The money they actually pay, hasnt even been earned yet by BP. I give it 25 years.........4 presidents.......a new supreme court.....Hell, Last I looked all the BP executives were flying their private jets to New York for dinner at Peter Lugers. Ill bet a 10 cent rise in gas prices will pay for this mess. Not including tip.

[FreddyFlameout]

The money they actually pay, hasnt even been earned yet by BP. I give it 25 years.........4 presidents.......a new supreme court.....Hell, Last I looked all the BP executives were flying their private jets to New York for dinner at Peter Lugers. Ill bet a 10 cent rise in gas prices will pay for this mess. Not including tip.

or perhaps BP will need a bail out.......

[Hatterized]

The money they actually pay, hasnt even been earned yet by BP. I give it 25 years.........4 presidents.......a new supreme court.....Hell, Last I looked all the BP executives were flying their private jets to New York for dinner at Peter Lugers. Ill bet a 10 cent rise in gas prices will pay for this mess. Not including tip.

Alex im guessing more than a 10 cent increase....and the BP execs will downgrade from Peters to the Palm or the Prime Rib....

or perhaps BP will need a bail out.......

Freddy...i was thinking the same....WHEN BP/AMOCO CANNOT or claim they cannot pay for the RECORD $$$$ in damages...they will be standing in line for a Govt bailout/handout....


Glenn......my mentality will not waver...tyvm.....time will tell all as the blame will be passed on....whether it be BP/AMOCO...one of their subs or one of their eqpt. suppliers....so again....one way to GUARENTEE payment resulting from damages may be levying fines......Glenn give it some thought.....one thing that is a given...both seafood and fuel prices are going to rise....and we all will be paying dearly as a result....should i pay $19.99/lb for shrimp that normally cost $9.99/lb....i know i could submit a bill to BP for $10.00 to cover the difference....and stand in line with millions of claimants who will get F'D by corporate machine known as BP/AMOCO...

Economies....Enviroments.....and what we pay out of our pockets.....WILL NEVER BE PAID/RE-IMBURSED IN FULL BY THOSE RESPONSIBLE....