BP (and The ONE) really need to work on their PR skillz.

[Tarheel]

You 'small people' ought to be proud that The ONE and BP are on top of helping us out of the crisis in the Gulf.  Talk about being condescending!

Excerpt from The Politico, all emphasis is my own (can't wait to get Alex Jone's take on this verbiage...is Svanberg part of the Trilateral Commission?):

BP: We're helping the 'small people'
By: Carol E. Lee and Glenn Thrush and Kendra Marr
June 16, 2010 12:19 PM EDT

BP officials agreed to the White House’s demand that they create a $20 billion escrow fund to pay claims to Gulf Coast residents and business owners, whom the company’s chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg, referred to as “the small people.”

Emerging from a four-hour meeting with more than a dozen senior administration officials, and a brief face-to-face with President Barack Obama, Svanberg told reporters that BP will also suspend dividend payments to shareholders this year and create a $100 million fund to assist oil rig workers left jobless by the government’s six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling.

“He’s frustrated because he cares about the small people, and we care about the small people," Svanberg said of Obama. "I hear comments that sometimes large oil companies are greedy companies that don’t care. But that is not the case with BP. We care about the small people."

Minutes earlier, Obama veered from his teleprompter script to urge BP officials to consider Gulf residents and business owners, already struggling to rebound from Hurricane Katrina, when making financial decisions.
...

Source:
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=418F3005-18FE-70B2-A88823C603B3C996

[eagleair89]

the official spin is that is was a translation error.

That explanation is not going to fly....he is the leader of a global corporation and should be smarter/better versed on the "culture" of the community he is visiting.

Simply put, the snooty asshole stepped in it.....the agreement on the $20 billion helped soften the statement a bit but not much.

They need to shut up and go to work, all of them.

[Tarheel]

the official spin is that is was a translation error.

That explanation is not going to fly....he is the leader of a global corporation and should be smarter/better versed on the "culture" of the community he is visiting.

Simply put, the snooty butthole stepped in it.....the agreement on the $20 billion helped soften the statement a bit but not much.

They need to shut up and go to work, all of them.

Yep.  OK.  Whatever they want to say for public image control.

I have a hunch that arrogant, son-of-a-bitch, Kenyan certainly did use this term as did that pompous ass Svanberg.

They've all stepped in it.

[eagleair89]

Yep.  OK.  Whatever they want to say for public image control.

I have a hunch that arrogant, son-of-a-bitch, Kenyan certainly did use this term as did that pompous ass Svanberg.

They've all stepped in it.

you would think with all that oil readily available that we the little people would be allowed to tar and feather at least a couple of BP folks and one or two from the government.

As the saying goes:  If it is good enough for the pelicans..............or something like that

[bottomfeeder]

Fucking scumbags.

[GH2001]

the official spin is that is was a translation error.

That explanation is not going to fly....he is the leader of a global corporation and should be smarter/better versed on the "culture" of the community he is visiting.

Simply put, the snooty butthole stepped in it.....the agreement on the $20 billion helped soften the statement a bit but not much.

They need to shut up and go to work, all of them.

Thing is: BP doesn't HAVE 20 billion in expendable CASH. They only have 7-8 billion in cash right now according to their balance sheets. This will fall on the tax payers - again.

[eagleair89]

Thing is: BP doesn't HAVE 20 billion in expendable CASH. They only have 7-8 billion in cash right now according to their balance sheets. This will fall on the tax payers - again.

I have no factual info on BP's cash situation.......but a friend in New Orleans says that BP's cash position is a bit stronger than you portray it here.

Who knows.....................I hope that some folks do not over react to this situation and that others do not down play it and try and run and hide.  If those two outcomes merge, this thing could get real interesting and have far reaching consequences beyond the northern Gulf and its environment.

[GH2001]

I have no factual info on BP's cash situation.......but a friend in New Orleans says that BP's cash position is a bit stronger than you portray it here.

Who knows.....................I hope that some folks do not over react to this situation and that others do not down play it and try and run and hide.  If those two outcomes merge, this thing could get real interesting and have far reaching consequences beyond the northern Gulf and its environment.

Then they are lying on their PUBLICLY known finances. They report to only have 7 bill in CASH on hand. I predict bankruptcy protection and a GM Style takeover by Obama.

[eagleair89]

Then they are lying on their PUBLICLY known finances. They report to only have 7 bill in CASH on hand. I predict bankruptcy protection and a GM Style takeover by Obama.

and this would surprise you?  (never, ever trust the accountant)

Their current assets are close to $70 billion.....and my very limited understanding of current assets are those assets that can be converted to cash in less than 12 months.

This thing is going to last at least that long.  BP can survive and remain a solvent independent company.

The question that is nagging me is:  Do they want to go that path?  Or are other factors and pressures at work here.? (both politically and corporately)

In the end, this thing will get cleaned up and it will not be the end of the world..........one question is in today's "instant gratification" culture do we have enough patience, common sense and ethical behavior to let it play out?
(this applies to the politicians, citizens & corporate folks equally)

I am afraid we don't and thus a big problem becomes a lasting sore unnecessarily.......because in the end it is not about the "big" and "small" people but the "smart" & "stupid" ones.

[AUJarhead]

Saw an interview with some fisherman from St Bernard that said something like "well, these little people sure kicked your ass in 1812."  Yes, I know it was actually 1814, but the point was made.

[GH2001]

and this would surprise you?  (never, ever trust the accountant)

Their current assets are close to $70 billion.....and my very limited understanding of current assets are those assets that can be converted to cash in less than 12 months.

Right, but converting these assets (which wouldnt even be close to 70 billion converted) would pretty much bankrupt the company. They would have no operating assets left to actually operate. I just dont see them making it out of this without bankruptcy or a bail out.

[AUTiger1]

Then they are lying on their PUBLICLY known finances. They report to only have 7 bill in CASH on hand. I predict bankruptcy protection and a GM Style takeover by Obama.

IMO and I repeat IMO......if BP bankrupts, with its' billions still intact, you can bet your last dollar that it will be a reorganization wherein they seek the cover of the court. If the reorganization plan is accepted by the court, it would prevent a buy out/take over, isolate funds for clean up and damages, and allow the company to emerge leaner yet intact. It may be the smart play...

[AUJarhead]

http://www.bloomberg.com/bb/n/abB4SRejx7Po

Cracks Show BP Was Battling Its Gulf Well as Early as February

By Alison Fitzgerald and Joe Carroll

June 17 (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc was struggling to seal cracks in its Macondo well as far back as February, more than two months before an explosion killed 11 and spewed oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

It took 10 days to plug the first cracks, according to reports BP filed with the Minerals Management Service that were later delivered to congressional investigators. Cracks in the surrounding rock continued to complicate the drilling operation during the ensuing weeks. Left unsealed, they can allow explosive natural gas to rush up the shaft.

“Once they realized they had oil down there, all the decisions they made were designed to get that oil at the lowest cost,” said Peter Galvin of the Center for Biological Diversity, which has been working with congressional investigators probing the disaster. “It’s been a doomed voyage from the beginning.”

BP didn’t respond to calls and e-mails seeking comment. The company’s shares fell 5 pence to 337 pence in London at the close of trading yesterday. BP has lost 49 percent of its market value since the April 20 catastrophe.

On Feb. 13, BP told the minerals service it was trying to seal cracks in the well about 40 miles (64 kilometers) off the Louisiana coast, drilling documents obtained by Bloomberg show. Investigators are still trying to determine whether the fissures played a role in the disaster.

The company attempted a “cement squeeze,” which involves pumping cement to seal the fissures, according to a well activity report. Over the following week the company made repeated attempts to plug cracks that were draining expensive drilling fluid, known as “mud,” into the surrounding rocks.

Three Substances

BP used three different substances to plug the holes before succeeding, the documents show.

“Most of the time you do a squeeze and then let it dry and you’re done,” said John Wang, an assistant professor of petroleum and natural gas engineering at Penn State in University Park, Pennsylvania. “It dries within a few hours.”

Repeated squeeze attempts are unusual and may indicate rig workers are using the wrong kind of cement, Wang said.

In early March, BP told the minerals agency the company was having trouble maintaining control of surging natural gas, according to e-mails released May 30 by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is investigating the spill.

While gas surges are common in oil drilling, companies have abandoned wells if they determine the risk is too high. When a Gulf well known as Blackbeard threatened to blow out in 2006, Exxon Mobil Corp. shut the project down.

‘Don’t Proceed’

“We don’t proceed if we cannot do so safely,” Exxon Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson told a House Energy and Commerce committee panel on June 15.

On March 10, BP executive Scherie Douglas e-mailed Frank Patton, the mineral service’s drilling engineer for the New Orleans district, telling him: “We’re in the midst of a well control situation.”

The incident was a “showstopper,” said Robert Bea, an engineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who has consulted with the Interior Department on offshore drilling safety. “They damn near blew up the rig.”

[GH2001]

http://www.bloomberg.com/bb/n/abB4SRejx7Po

And MMS knew it and let it happen anyway. Unreal.

[Tiger Wench]

The fund will be $5B per year for 4 yrs.  Very doable without wiping out any cash on hand, or requiring a liquidation of assets.

[AUJarhead]

Long, but a very good read...

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6593/648967

I won't copy and paste here, since it's rather long.  Don't read if you are in a good mood.

[Tarheel]

The fund will be $5B per year for 4 yrs.  Very doable without wiping out any cash on hand, or requiring a liquidation of assets.

Not a bad haul for a one-day shake-down by The Kenyan.  He was doing what he knows best as a 'Community Organizer'.

As much as I hate to write this I think that the 'small people' of the Gulf are in for a rude awakening if they think that even half of this money is going to make it to them out of the Fed-Gov coffers.  Barry and Biden were pursing their lips like Jabba the Hutt at the thought of extorting this money from BP.  I'm sure they'll find the appropriate pork partners to spend it with after throwing a few bones to the 'small people'.  That's the Chicago way.

[eagleair89]

Long, but a very good read...

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6593/648967

I won't copy and paste here, since it's rather long.  Don't read if you are in a good mood.

interesting read and an interesting site.

thanks for posting the link.

[GH2001]

I really think THE Anointed ONE is trying his best to bankrupt BP. Energy is one of the last bastions the govt doesnt own now along with telecommunications. He love to get his greedy bail out giving hands on BP.

[bottomfeeder]

interesting read and an interesting site.

thanks for posting the link.

And some here believe I'm a conspiracy theorist. LOL.