BP close to success in capping oil
A SUCCESSFUL new cap on the leaking Macondo well sent BP shares rallying yesterday as the oil major came closer to stopping the Gulf of Mexico spill.
Shares spiked to 420p in early trading, before closing 2.5 per cent higher at 409.25p, as London reacted to news that BP had installed the new sealing cap, which is expected to siphon up to 80,000 barrels of oil a day to the water’s surface.
Meanwhile, it emerged that Abu Dhabi is still considering whether to invest in BP in a move that could put a firmer backstop on the company’s share price.
“We are still thinking about it,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan told Bloomberg News.
“We are looking across the board. We have been partners with BP for years.”
Mohammed’s comments come less than a week after BP?chief executive Tony Hayward’s visit to Abu Dhabi.
Admiral Thad Allen, who is leading the response for the US government, said yesterday: “Either through a potential shut-in of the well or being able to produce most if not all of the flow that is generated, either way, we will have a way to contain the oil.”
His comments came as BP and US scientists commenced a series of “pressure tests” to determine whether the new “capping stack” can seal the well completely.