What If BP Declares Bankruptcy!

There will be a lot of lawyers getting very wealthy at everybody else's expense. That's just for the start.

BP is not just one company but a "federation" of many smaller operations operating under the BP corporate umbrella. I suspect that the dotted lines have already been drawn as to where the affected operations will be severed. There will be a lot of sandbagging and shoring up of the corporate entity.

The "singlets" and "backpacks"(middle/upper managers) who are responsible will be identified by HR and their terminations will be orchestrated, quietly or as noisily as is required to settle the stockmarket.

As for the Gusher, well if they don't/can't plug it soon and by that I mean within a fortnight. Then it may be that a politically inspired intervention may occur. That could be that the government declares absolute sovereignty on the site and then makes a deal with another "U.S." oil company to take over the disaster for the extraction rights. An action that would reset the disaster stopwatch for the government. Or they could ask the Russians for a quiet favour, but I don't think so.

Where is Red Adair when you need him?

{I do know he has passed on}

I have not heard many mentions of the Gulf War Oil Spill which, I think, is still the largest on record. Geographically, there are many similarities... the Gulf War Spill and the Deepwater Horizon Spill both have impacted marshlands.

From what I have read, the lack of wave energy, and the overall stagnant environment of a marshland greatly hinders oil degradation.

Also, I am not hearing a lot about Transocean's continued role and liability in this matter. When you're a Turn-Key company, supplying all equipment, personnel, activity, and experience at a site; you assume a lot of the responsibility... regardless of what the 'company man' of the actual site's owner tells you to do. And regardless of what minimum compliance requires... there are still 'business ethics' that should guide decisions. Sure BP is a large company, with a lot of clout, but Transocean Ltd. is no slouch of a firm either... they have some muscle behind their name and they were the Subject Matter Experts onsite.

I mean, if I'm paying a turn-key solution provider 650,000 USD a day in rental fees to perform a task, you can damn sure bet I would hold them liable if something went awry.

And finally, from what I've read, BP only owns a 65% stake in that prospect. So where is Anadarko Petroleum with their 25% liability, and Mitsui with their 10% liability? Come on, let me see some of their employees out there cleaning up at least. You own a percentage of the oil, you own a percentage of its clean up.

Anyone with a business interest in off-shore drilling needs to commit resources. I should see a line of tankers and skimmers form companies all over the world, staged... waiting like taxies at an airport or like ambulances were outside of ground zero after 9/11. As one skimmer/tank needs to pull out due to either fuel, supplies, or capacity limits, the next one is pulling in to take over.

The off-shore drilling industry needs to take this as a calling to the continued viability of their industry. They need to come together, as one voice, and address this matter.

This tragedy will have lasting impact on not only the single company cited in news headlines, but the off-shore drilling industry as a whole.

So, in response to the OP's question... if BP 'walks away' there should already be a plethora of other companies with a stake in the off-shore drilling industry ready and poised to take the lead.

My apologies for venting, it's just to-date I have maintained my composure, I have looked at things rationally and tried to keep things in perspective. Although it's been hard... I have seen the effects of the Gulf War Spill first hand while I was performing a Personal Security Detail mission during my last deployment to Iraq. Over a decade later the saltwater mashes there still suffer. This spill has the potential to be much worse, and my frustration is growing.

JavaHead