Those who have been following the BP
That's particularly true of folks who earn their living along the Gulf coast. But those in closest proximity to the disaster also know huge steps need to be taken before they can wash their hands of this nightmarish affair.
First on the list is returning the industry to work in the Gulf. Despite lawsuits filed by drillers Noble
Then there are the new offshore drilling regulations being discussed in Congress. As The Wall Street Journal noted earlier this week, these strict rules likely would require redundancies for several types of rig equipment. Included would likely be a second set of shear rams on the blowout preventer to cut through the drill pipe and halt oil flow in the event of a repeat of what seems to have happened.
The big difficulty there is the cost, especially for companies which operate older fleets. Also, older and smaller rigs may not have the space and lifting capacity to handle the heavier equipment that may be mandated.
Diamond Offshore
And last, but hardly least, will be the decades of litigation that will spring from the tragedy. While most will probably be directed toward BP and Transocean, I wouldn't count Halliburton
Since you really need to include energy names in your portfolios, I continue to like ExxonMobil