We didn’t want it to be possible, but we figured it is true.  Ecosumo is reading in multiple sources (McClatchy, Treehugger, NYTimes, Washington Post) that British Petroleum will still be making money off of the natural disaster they caused in the Gulf of Mexico.  As they clean up the oil spill, BP and our government are keeping a tight lip about how BP can make somewhere around 80 million during the next two month and the Federal government is looking at about 20 million.  Check out the McClatchy article for details, but the essentials are the current containment process for the oil spill will salvage a lot of the oil spewing from the ocean floor.  This could turn into around 1.5 million dollars a day for BP.

After they salvage the oil it gets picked up by drill ships that act as floating refineries.  The Federal government enters the picture because taxpayers like you and me own that site.  The Fed is thinking it will receive a much more modest payout of 330K on a daily basis, adding up to 19 million over 2 months.  Royalties from BP to the Fed could add up to another 14 million.

Certainly, we like seeing taxpayers get some money back on the largest environmental disaster ever, but should BP be getting paid?  We like that their shareholders get some – we’re all for the commercial market functioning – but what about the penalties for the megaolithic company?  

Treehugger had a good point: “…it does raise questions about the company's preferred containment methods, and whether it has placed a priority on potentially less-effective methods for the sake of being able to profit off the salvaged oil. This seems to me to be a distinct possibility: Remember they tried two "top hats" to contain -- and siphon -- and lowering a giant tube to collect a portion of the oil before they attempted a 'top kill' to blast the well closed. Until further investigation, this remains but a possibility, though I think one that warrants closer scrutiny.”

It’s a good point.  And we’d like you to weigh in if you have any thoughts on if BP used shoddy methods to stem the spill in order to salvage oil for sales purposes.  Write to us here at the blog and let us know your thoughts.  We’ll keep publishing about the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill as time goes on to keep you informed of the environmental and economic effects of this disaster.