CRISISBOOM

“Will almost certainly complicate the politics of levying and collecting damages” from Gulf oil disaster says Congressman

BP’s frantic efforts to repair its devastated reputation in the US have been set back by a major new alliance with the Russian government, prompting outraged comments from all sides of the political spectrum.

Amid continuing anger from the American public over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, politicians are calling for an investigation into BP’s deal to sell a 5 per cent stake in the company to the Russian state-controlled oil giant Rosneft.

That deal, which gives BP access to vast untapped oil reserves in the Arctic, was signed with fanfare in London on Friday night, but across the Atlantic, one Congressman renamed BP “Bolshoi Petroleum”. US critics also suggested BP has now become a national security threat, as well as environmental one.

“The national security implications of BP America being involved with the Russian company – that does require scrutiny by the Committee of Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS),” Michael Burgess, a Republican from Texas, said in a television interview hours after the deal was signed. Read more…