BP shares fall back on profit-taking
BP shares have put on nearly 30% over last few days amid rumours that a number of companies may well be considering a takeover bid for the stricken UK oil group. This comes only days after it was reveal that "unofficially" the US authorities have given ExxonMobil the "go ahead" to consider an offer for BP. Whether this is correct or not remains to be seen but it has certainly caught the attention of market investors.
It will be interesting to see how the BP share price performs over the coming weeks amid signs that the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster may well be coming to an end, although nothing is yet guaranteed. Once the issue has been put to bed we will then see estimates regarding the cleanup cost and the compensation bill for BP, which some believe could run into the tens of billions of dollars - indeed some estimates are as high as $100 billion!
It would appear that the US authorities are set to make an example of BP with rumours of criminal charges being presented to the company's top management. However, slowly but surely we are hearing stories of US oil companies and other worldwide leaders which been involved in similar oil disasters around the world that have in some cases been "swept under the carpet".
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