What is going to be BP's fate?

Take a look at their last-quarter profits (not revenues – profits). They are in no trouble whatsoever. Oil is obscenely profitable, and BP and all the other majors are subsidized by you. The have depletion allowances, accelerated depreciation, all kinds of tax breaks.

Exxon Mobile still exists.

Their stock price has dropped but I think they are in fine position to weather the slump.

I think BP will still thrive as a leading suplier of oil. They are a rich oil company

Rise their prices because of oil loss and fees to compensate….just my guess.

Very well, probably make a huge profit despite Obama’s mindless posturing. And good for them, why should America have the monopoly on Evil? I still believe in my heart that a British Corporation can still teach America a thing or too about Evilness

This mess is going to ding up BP’s public image pretty bad and, yes, they will be fined, and sued, and will ultimately pay billions of dollars for this spill. I have no doubt that BP will survive this mess, but the price of a PR and environmental blunder this bad will certainly hurt. A lot of people, that aren’t accountants or experts, like to paint the picture like BP is the bad guy. Nobody stood more to lose than BP out of a situation like this. I’m not saying that BP didn’t do anything wrong… if they hadn’t we wouldn’t have thousands of barrels of oil pouring into the gulf. However, every barrel of oil that pours out into the ocean is a barrel that BP is going to have to pay big, big money to try to get out of the gulf and is one less barrel that they can sell to the people that need it. So, let’s just remain clear, this was an accident. BP wouldn’t knowingly cut corners (as an organization) to save a few pennies when the stakes are this high. They can make enough of a profit without cutting corners. But, at the same time, don’t pretend like BP wasn’t pushing anyone to keep costs down. They make money by the billions because they have to invest money by the hundreds of billions in order to get oil that is buried miles under water or under the ground and refine it, transport it, clean up after themselves, move tons of equipment around on a daily basis, etc. In terms of profit margins, or the % of every dollar made that actually becomes profit, the big cable news networks are all making at least 10 times what oil companies do.

The whole situation is bad, and bad for everyone… however, it is worst for BP. But, BP isn’t going to go anywhere. They are just going to lose more money than any of us can imagine seeing as a result of this mess.

Probably exactly the same as the response that followed the Chevron Disaster about 20 years of haggling over the fine, and otherwise, business as usual.

When you are one of few suppliers of a good that other people are dependent on, it is quite difficult to get driven out of business.
Like drug dealers supplying addicts with crack. They could be the biggest scumbags the world has ever seen and the addicts would still come to them for their needles.

Their stocks will be shaky for a while.

@Nullo Agree. Might be a good time to buy though.

The shareholders may suffer a little, but the CEO’s will stay comfortable.

I also agree that nothing crippling will happen to BP, much as I would like it to. They are probably not even worried at all about restitution, their company’s future or anyone’s anger towards them, but just pretending to be. It’s a sad state of affairs and another example of a wealthy organization run amuck in an unregulated industry.

We own BP stock, and have a buy order in for more when the price is right – we expect to make a profit over time.

Worst case scenario will leave the BP CEOs with 8-digit golden parachutes, and as long as the execs are safe then it doesn’t matter :P