Shell Oil and ExxonMobil have reportedly been eying BP providing a lift to the FTSE index. BP is responsible for the Gulf oil spill disaster.
The oil group – hit last year following the disastrous spill in the Gulf of Mexico – has climbed to a six month high after reports that Royal Dutch Shell had been sniffing around the company. BP is up 22.45p at 488p after the Daily Mail said Shell had considered a bid for its rival at the time of the Gulf accident, and could still be interested if other parties became involved. ExxonMobil has also been mooted as a potential predator. Some analysts believe that now BP seems past the worst, the moment to pounce may have gone. Others reckon any purchaser might have been waiting to see the full extent of BP’s liabilities.
Whatever the case BP has helped lift the FTSE 100 by 106.12 points to 6006.06. Shell’s A shares, meanwhile, have added 12p to 2150.5p.
The oil giant has survived the disaster, so far, while the full damage to the Gulf is still being ascertained. A new $10B class action lawsuit has been brought by angry shareholders that believe the company acted irresponsibly.
Now, new charges could be on the horizon for the beleaguered BP, which could add billions of dollars to its already multi-billion dollar bill, in the form of an investor lawsuit spearheaded by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. Judge Keith Ellison, out of Houston, Texas, named them as lead plaintiffs because they are responsible for their states’ pension funds, which hold most of BP’s US stock.
The class-action investor lawsuit is comprised of seven cases, and possibly thousands of other investors, aimed at garnering compensation for those investors that lost money in the wake of the oil spill. The suit claims that BP continuously lied, as far back as 2005, about its safety record. The suit will examine all of BP’s safety related statements since 2005, which will also include communications concerning any other accidents that have happened.
