BP Plc dropped to the lowest since December 1996 in London on concern the company’s oil spill cleanup operation in the Gulf of Mexico may be disrupted by bad weather. BP fell as much as 6 percent to 328.40 pence and traded at 334.9 pence as of 3:27 p.m. local time. It has dropped 49 percent since the April 20 accident on the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 workers and started the leak, erasing 60 billion pounds ($89 billion) off the company’s market value.
The first storm of the Atlantic hurricane season may enter the Gulf of Mexico as soon as next week, meteorologist Jim Rouiller said, and forecasters are predicting the season may be among the worst on record. BP increased its recovery rate of leaking oil as costs of responding to the worst spill in U.S. history rose to $2 billion.
BP has two pipes collecting oil and gas from the ocean floor to bring to the surface. They collected 25,830 barrels of oil yesterday, the biggest quantity diverted from the Gulf since the spill began, BP said in a statement on its website today.
The company plans to raise capacity to as much as 53,000 barrels a day about June 30 using the floating riser and an offshore production vessel expected to be less vulnerable to storms. BP’s main oil recovery vessel, a drill ship, has twice shut down because of thunderstorms.
Two relief wells, which will stop the oil flow of oil permanently, are scheduled for completion in August.
