Oil Spill Makes BP Stock Plummet; Turns Good Investments Bad
With this country’s huge dependence on oil, anyone looking to make retirement investing can look to investing in oil with little apprehension. However, due to the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, in which 11 oil rig workers died and the spill still growing, BP stocks have plunged down into scary waters for investors.
BP, the company who owned the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, is seeing their oil investments drop 8%-13% daily since the rig exploded. On Thursday, the day the oil spill hit the coast of Louisiana, BP’s stock closed at $52.56.
Retirement investing and family investments are taking a hard hit from the drop in investments, with families losing thousands of dollars. Retirees and families will have to learn how to stretch their budget. The company itself is projecting a loss of several hundred million dollars, going toward retirement spending on many areas of the spill, although they are taking full responsibility for paying for the damage.
Taking full responsibility for the accident is another question. Tony Hayward, chief of BP, is blaming the rig owner and operator, Transocean. Even though he says the explosion was not BP’s fault, Hayward pointed out it is the sole responsibility of BP to deal with the situation and come up with a solution.
The estimated cost BP is projecting is seen as an inadequate number by many, especially those on Wall Street who say with the $6 million BP is sending to the area every day, plus the $300 million needed for a drilling and operating relief well, the projected cost seems extremely passable.
