This week has already been tabbed as the beginning of Robert Dudley's reign as BP's
Beyond that, however, there's some potential that Dudley could head up the last executive administration in the company's long history. U.S. political events could dramatically shape BP's future. How? Simply by determining whether the big British company is permitted to go on plying its trade in our country.
From my current perspective, however, I'd be surprised by a movement from Washington, D.C., that would strip BP of its right to drill for and produce oil and gas here. But anything is possible, especially with Gulf Coast folks progressively getting their dander up about BP's slower-than-desired pace of reparations to spill-affected Gulf residents.
Beyond that, however, there remains at least something of a possibility that BP's Big Oil peers could make a run at the company, especially given a continuation of the substantial reduction in its share price that followed the April 20 disaster aboard Transocean's
I've discussed with my Foolish friends, even while the Gulf spill was still gushing, the notion that BP, with its newly anemic share price, could be gobbled up by the likes of ExxonMobil
So the wild and wacky world of BP continues. I must state that Robert Dudley -- the first American to run the venerable British company -- has demonstrated his ability to survive amid difficult political and geopolitical circumstances. For instance, Fools interested in energy likely recall his tough times as CEO of Russia's TNK-BP partnership, a successful but contentious joint venture among a group of Russian billionaires and BP.
Before affairs at the partnership settled down, Mr. Dudley held things together, until both parties finally made nice. I'll not be surprised if he's able to accomplish a similar revival at BP. The result could be pleasant profits for Fools willing to stick their necks out at today's BP prices.