The shares of BP Plc continued falling on Thursday on concerns about the costs the British company will face in the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The shares opened trading in London 11 percent down before recovering to trade down 4.0 percent, one day after BP depositary shares plummeted to a 14-year low in New York. President Barack Obama's administration ratcheted up its demands on Wednesday that BP cover all the costs stemming from the disaster, including millions of dollars in salaries of workers laid off due to a drilling moratorium in the Gulf. With polls showing public disapproval over Obama's handling of the worst oil spill in U.S. history, the prospect of new government penalties has sapped investor confidence in BP.
The shares of BP Plc continued falling on Thursday on concerns about the costs the British company will face in the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
The shares opened trading in London 11 percent down before recovering to trade down 4.0 percent, one day after BP depositary shares plummeted to a 14-year low in New York.
President Barack Obama's administration ratcheted up its demands on Wednesday that BP cover all the costs stemming from the disaster, including millions of dollars in salaries of workers laid off due to a drilling moratorium in the Gulf.
With polls showing public disapproval over Obama's handling of the worst oil spill in U.S. history, the prospect of new government penalties has sapped investor confidence in BP.
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BP said it had the financial flexibility to deal with liabilities related to the spill and that it was unaware of any justification for the collapse in its shares.
"BP notes the fall in its share price in U.S. trading last night. The company is not aware of any reason which justifies this share price movement," BP said in a statement.
The cost of the response effort to date has been around $1.43 billion, the company added.
A fresh round of congressional hearings into the oil spill were scheduled on Thursday in Washington as BP sought to capture more of the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from its ruptured undersea well.
Photo shows gas and oil continuing to leak from the containment cap at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill site in the Gulf of Mexico in this frame grab captured from a BP live video feed June 9, 2010. Credit: REUTERS/BP/Handout
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