I recently discussed how BP's (NYSE: BP) massive bills for the explosion on a Transocean (NYSE: RIG) rig it was operating in the Gulf of Mexico, and the subsequent gutting of its market cap, might have made the oil giant a juicy takeover target. Now, the company's pouring ever-increasing time and effort into raising funds to cover those bills and keep the likes of ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A) from devouring it.

While BP has ruled out an equity offering, Sunday newspapers in Europe and the Middle East were chock full of discussions about the company's efforts to round up protective financing, potentially from sovereign wealth funds. The stakes discussed generally involved between 5% and 10% of the company, which would likely bring in roughly $9 billion. Funds getting the most mention are located in Qatar, Abu Dhabi, and Kuwait.

BP also could sell non-strategic assets. For instance, when BP bought Amoco a dozen years ago, the deal created Pan American Energy LLC, the second-largest oil company in Argentina. China's CNOOC (NYSE: CEO) might be in line for BP's 60% of Pan Am, since it already has 20% of the company, which it agreed to buy from a BP partner in March. From that transaction, it appears that BP's share is worth at least $9 billion.

Beyond that, other assets could be jettisoned. Colombia's Cusiana and Cupiagua fields, including a 500-mile pipeline to the Caribbean, produce more than 175,000 barrels a day for a BP partnership that also includes Total (NYSE: TOT) and state-owned Ecopetrol. Or, there's a BP-discovered offshore gas field, the Nam Con Son project, south of Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City.

Finally, BP, which owns 65% of the blown-out well, is dunning its partners -- Anadarko (NYSE: APC), with a 25% interest, and Japan's Mitsui, which has a 10% share -- for $400 million of the cleanup costs. And since the numbers are based on BP's $1 billion expenses for May, there'll surely be more bills coming. But Anadarko CEO Jim Hackett has already blasted BP, saying the company's "behavior and actions likely represent gross negligence or willful misconduct and thus affect the obligations of the parties under the operating agreement." It'll likely be interesting to hear the partners' response, and to observe the certain litigation to follow.  

BP may have singlehandedly set offshore drilling back eons. Until things begin to settle down, my advice is to err toward conservatism, but certainly not abandonment, in the sector.