When disaster strikes, credibility is key, as explained by Levick Communications. BP survived the "perp walk" to Congress, but today’s NYT article on the disaster indicates the possibility that BP may be on the brink of a costly mistake. That mistake could rock its stock price, which already is down about 20%.
The possible mistake ? The NYT article this morning by Justin Gillis contains information consistent with its title: Giant Plumes of Oil Found Forming Under Gulf of Mexico. Specifically, the article goes on to describes scientists out gathering data suggesting that there is a huge unseen flow of oil below the surface. To address these issues, the scientists have asked PB for more data, but according to the article, the data is not being supplied.
My view ? The last thing BP needs is to face claims that is hiding the facts. Here’s the key quote from the article:
"BP has resisted entreaties from scientists that they be allowed to use sophisticated instruments at the ocean floor that would give a far more accurate picture of how much oil is really gushing from the well.
“The answer is no to that,” a BP spokesman, Tom Mueller, said on Saturday. “We’re not going to take any extra efforts now to calculate flow there at this point. It’s not relevant to the response effort, and it might even detract from the response effort.”