bp oil spill cleanup

Earlier Friday in London trading, shares of BP gained on rumors the largest oil company in the world, Exxon Mobil, is considering a bid for the oil company responsible for the largest oil spill in the U.S., Reuters reported.

Kenneth Feinberg, who was jointly selected to be the new oil spill claims czar by the White House and BP, spent his first official day on the job Monday taking heat over the guidelines he has established for claims against the fund BP set up for victims of the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

Despite the government's tough talk about BP over the oil spill, it worked closely with the company to clean up the leak. Now, many worry BP could get away with a slap on the wrist from its behind-the-scenes partner.

A bill that passed the House of Representatives on Friday would, among other things, eliminate the $75 million cap on liabilities related to oil spills. The overhaul of the nation's offshore drilling regulations would require oil companies to pay the full cost involved with any spills.

A coalition of three major environmental groups is requesting that BP immediately set aside this money in addition to the $20 billion it has already committed because that federal escrow fund is meant to pay for only economic damages.

BP's board appears to be saying yes. They're betting the American who has become the face of BP's Gulf Oil spill cleanup has the right stuff to not only end that nightmare but to lead an overhaul of BP's corporate culture to one that stresses safety as well profits.

Investors got an early jump on BP's earnings announcement, sending the stock about 4% higher in Monday in a positive reaction to the oil giant's anticipated ouster of CEO Tony Hayward in favor of Gulf cleanup czar Bob Dudley.

Authorities suspended operations around BP's ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico and prepared to evacuate workers as a tropical storm threatened to enter the area. BP is also working on a new method to contain oil -- the so-called static kill method.

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is taking a bigger bite out of BP's bottom line, according to a report issued Wednesday by analysts for Sanford C. Bernstein that hikes the oil company's cost to $33 billion.

With BP's undersea well in the Gulf of Mexico still gushing oil and cleanup efforts barely making a dent, everyone wants to know what the long-term effects on the environment and human health are. In fact, very little is known about these interactions.