On the Oil Spill Front…

clipped from www.nytimes.com BP Tees Up Asset Sales to Pay For Spill LONDON (Reuters) – A day after BP said it would sell $30 billion in assets to pay for its Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the focus shifted to what is for sale, while lawyers prepared to tackle a mountain of claims for damages. Just 24 hours after gaffe-prone Chief Executive Tony Hayward’s head rolled from the chopping block, candidates for the auction block hit the headlines, as BP aims to slim down to recover from the thumping losses racked up in the 100 days since the start of the environmental disaster. Sources with direct knowledge of the matter said BP was in talks with India’s Reliance Industries and Essar to sell retail assets in Africa with an estimated price tag of $500 million. Investment bankers said the assets BP could sell include its stake in Alaska’s huge Prudhoe Bay oil field and its interest in Pan American Energy in Argentina, as well as smaller assets in Vietnam, Pakistan and Colombia.

Is $30 Billion enough? Certainly 4-5 months of destruction comes in at more than that.