Investing: June 2010 Archives
Disclosure: I'm a BP shareholder.
I've been watching the Oil leak
since it started and I'm alarmed at what has happened; not because
I'm a shareholder but because of the damage caused. BP needs to pay
for the cleanup, I know this and it has cost me money in lost
capital, BP knows this and so does half the world so why are we
seeing ever increasing British bashing from the United States over
this event.
For instance: Barack Obama is on record for using the old name of BP, “British Petroleum”, why would he do this? I'm sure his advisers know when the name changed and the implications of using it even if he doesn't. Fox news are quick to say things like “BP, formerly known as British Petroleum”, why are they saying that? BP is BP and has not been calling itself British Petroleum for some time. The level of bashing is getting out of hand and the papers in the UK are seeing this as an outright attack on the British. The news this morning was about three things, the World Cup, David Cameroon in Afghanistan and the US bashing the British over the oil slick.
The facts are that BP is a multinational company and the US own a large chunk of it:
The rig that exploded was owned by an American company and it was American people operating it. Bashing the British achieves nothing and will only harm relationships between the two states. The UK and the US have been staunch allies for years and we've spent many more billions together than what it will take to clean up the mess in the Gulf of Mexico. My fear is that some cretins will be allowed to deflate what is a solid relationship that will take much longer to repair that the oil slick. John Napier, CEO of Royal and Sun Alliance has put it much better than me in the following letter.
Barack Obama and the US public are
right to ask BP to withhold the dividend until we know the extent of
what has been done. I know the implications of this for the pension
funds and other investors but hey, we bought BP shares, it's a bit
late to complain now. We took the risk so we'll pay the price, that's
how this stuff works and Barack Obama has a duty to
make sure that BP can pay for the damage. However, the anti British
rhetoric needs to stop because it achieves nothing and will only damage what is a fantastic relationship.
Oil sticks but grudges and ill feeling sticks much longer and will cost us all far more than the billions it takes to clean up the Gulf.
