After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill BP's stock fell by 52% in 50 days on the New York Stock Exchange, going from $60.57 on 20 April 2010, to $29.20 on 9 June, its lowest level since August 1996.



Around 40% of BP shares are held by UK shareholders, and 39% in the USA. BP's UK dividends represent approximately one-seventh of all dividend payments in the UK and form the basis of many pension schemes.



I guess all the smarties got in and bought the shares at half price. Is it ethical?

toot2000, why would it not be ethical to buy BP shares at the lowest

price you can get them for? I bought them around the 8th July for $32.90

& sold them about 5 days later for $36.85. What could possibly be wrong

with that? Instead of going up, it could have gone down to below $10

& I would have lost over 3/4 of my investment.

How clever of you Innes, you probably also hold shares in James Hardie, another ethical company.

Believe it or not Innes, some people have a problem with companies who cut corners for profit.



STOCKHOLM - Swedish bank Nordea (ND.SK) Monday said its ethical funds had sold off all investments in BP (BP.LN) following the company's handling of the oil spill in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.



"The company has failed to comply with its own safety and environmental rules, according to the information available," the bank said.



The bank added that BP hasn't disclosed enough information about how other similar operations are managed from a safety and environmental perspective.



Sasja Beslik, head of Responsible Investments & Governance at Nordea, told Dow Jones Newswires that the investments were worth around EUR10 million.



http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/newsheadlines.aspx?selected=BLK&symbol;=BLK

BP execs should go to jail

June 30, 2010



BP is a blatant repeat offender — a serial criminal. In 2005, BP's criminal conduct resulted in an explosion at its Texas City Oil Refinery that killed 15 people; this was followed by the Prudhoe Bay, Alaska pipeline oil spill in 2006. In both cases multi-million dollar criminal fines were imposed. BP also paid hundreds of millions of dollars in civil and administrative fines for Occupational Health and Safety Administration and environmental violations. And now, BP is responsible for yet even more deaths and an environmental disaster of devastating proportions.



The multi-million dollar criminal fines paid by BP did nothing to deter its risky ongoing conduct. The fines were simply a cost of doing business for BP. The only way to change this dynamic is to not only charge the corporation but also those individuals responsible for the corporate crime.



If only a portion of the facts that led up to the explosion that have been reported in the media are true, there will be ample evidence to support a criminal prosecution. But the prosecution should not be limited to corporate entities. Reports of employees being pressured not to report problems and failures to follow the company's own internal safety and compliance policies, indicate — at best — a cavalier disregard for the risks inherent in the oil and gas business.



http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-06-30/news/bs-ed-prosecute-bp-20100630_1_bp-corporate-crime-texas-city-oil-refinery

toot2000. No, I have never owned James Hard shares. Even if a

Swedish bank has sold all its shares in BP, what has that got to do

with me? All the Australian Banks & most Australian Super Funds

hold BP shares. I do agree with you, that the individuals responsible,

should be prosecuted. We have thousands of media reports, but BP

has not been charged or found guilty of anything yet. If we always

listened to the media, Lindy Chamberlain would still be in gaol

Which individuals should be prosecuted? We all use oil products.Should all all oil wells be shut down and therefore no more disasters. My car stops without oil, as all machinery fails at times.

The blame lies with all who use and demand the product, or, maybe we could blame those who discovered it.

Criticizing BP and demonizing the oil industry and two different things.

Oil giant BP could split itself up by scaling back its US operations and selling refineries and petrol stations in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Britain's Sunday Times newspaper reported.



The troubled British-based firm is facing a battle to rebuild its reputation following the worst environmental disaster in US history, which may now have been contained following the capping of a ruptured oil well.



Directors of the firm are at an early stage of canvassing shareholders about possible options, which include increasing the amount of in-house engineering which takes place, rather than outsourcing it, the paper said.



"BP seems to have accepted that it will be a smaller business. It is prepared to consider anything," an unidentified investor told the Sunday Times.



Some investors are also now reportedly considering whether chief executive Tony Hayward, who faced heavy criticism for a series of public relations blunders during the crisis, could stay on, despite previous calls for him to quit.



The Mail on Sunday reported that BP's board would meet Thursday to decide on the first in a series of asset sell-offs.



BP has so far spent at least 3.5 billion dollars dealing with the spill and compensation claims could eventually cost 10 times that amount.



A spokesman for the firm declined to comment.

Toot,

I fail to understand why stating the facts is demonizing.

We all use products which need oil, and criticise oil companies when something goes wrong.

We all have products made from the basic minerals in the ground, yet, so many people criticise mining companies

for digging holes.

If BP service stations were the only outlets for fuel, would every critic of BP stop buying their fuel ?

What I meant was that BP deserved to be criticized, they did the wrong thing. But that doesn't mean we have to demonise the whole oil industry for their mistake. Let's hope that this terrible disaster will lead to safety issues being placed high on the agenda in future for all companies involved in oil exploration right around the world.

Crude oil is such a toxic and difficult pollutant that stringent safety measures should be applied to all aspects of the industry, not just exploration. Tough measures should cover extraction, storage, processing and transportation of oil and petroleum products.

I have seen in the past the actual problems with oil wells in particular. It seems that when compared to the thousands of oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico, problems are a small number. My problem is that I can't seem to find that study right now. The problem percentage was way down in the single digit range. It is not a big issue at all.



What we have in the Gulf is a tragedy and should be prevented if possible. So are car wrecks disasters for those involved, and they should also be prevented if possible. But somehow, throughout life we find undesirable things happening. No amount of laws or government meddling will ever stop all problems from happening.



If not for the US environmentalist making sure we can not drill on land or in shallow waters where the problems can be observed and repaired more quicly, we might not have these deep water wells in the Gulf of Mexico causing such messes. Blame BP if you wish, but BP is only one item in the entire mess we have. You can also blame our environuts, our government, our unbalanced press, our politicians, and so on. They all add up to the final outcome of a very difficult well to drill and near impossible to repair if it fails.



Oil is heavy into our lives. To enforce the idea that we could live without oil is foolish as we live now. No oil and you can forget half of what is in your kitchen. Many of the medical equipments and utility use items, hoses, bed accessories, food holders, etc. are dependent on oil. Cars use plenty of oil products for exterior, interior, seals, sound proofing, based on products derived from oil. Fabrics for cloths, decorating, furniture covers, car seats, depend on oil. Pavement for highways and parking lots is and oil product. Roofing materials and sealing materials are made of oil products. It goes on and on. Our societies of today are very dependent on oil and products made from oil. I don't wish to go back the the 'good old days' of horse back and general poverty before our uses of oil began.



Yes, we do have lots of oversight, laws, inspections, and other meddling ideas from the government. That just is not going to get better if we continue to write more laws and put more people into the path of oil production. Maybe less political interference and fewer agencies making conflicting rules would be the best solution.

.

Will this sorry saga never end?



Seepage has been detected 2 miles from well head. Oil and gas are leaking from the cap on BP's ruptured oil well but the cork will stay in place for now. If there was a quick rise in pressure, the well would be vented immediately to keep from creating leaks deep underground.



The concern all along was a leak elsewhere in the well bore, meaning the cap may have to be reopened to prevent the environmental disaster from becoming even worse and harder to fix.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/19/oil-cap-leak-coast-guard_n_650851.html