It would be difficult to find anyone involved in BP's
As you know, Transocean's
That oil has now found its way to the Louisiana shore, where the time and money required for cleanup could be measured in years and untold BP shekels.
BP is pumping heavy mud into the blown-out well in a "top kill" procedure intended to halt the spill. But, it appears that it'll be well into the weekend before we have a realistic handle on the procedure's result. That sort of pokey pace and attendant environmental damage on Thursday unleashed a frustrated President Obama, who announced several new measures to deal with the crisis and prevent others:
- A six-month moratorium on new deepwater development in the gulf and halting 33 deepwater exploratory wells currently in progress.
- Cancellation of a lease sale planned for August in the western gulf and another proposed sale off the Virginia coast.
- Suspending a planned drilling program in Alaska's Chukchi and Beaufort seas, where Shell
(NYSE: RDS-A) has an ambitions effort set for this summer.
Among the companies active in the Gulf of Mexico and thereby likely to be affected by the extended moratorium are Anadarko
I'm inclined to urge Foolish energy investors to maintain their pre-April 20 approaches to the sector. While gulf production levels may be affected somewhat, increased oil and natural gas prices should provide some offset in the meantime.