BP Oil Spill Still Costing Consumers

BP Oil Spill in 2010

It has been quite some time since the much publicized oil spill by PB in the Gulf of Mexico. The local economies, tied to fishing and tourism, were hit hard when the Deepwater Horizon oil platform began spewing oil into the gulf at an alarming rate. Also severely impacted by the disaster was the environment.

BP spent a lot of money and went to lot of effort to clean up their mess and to make those financially impacted whole again. Despite their efforts, the impact on the nation’s economy will continue as a result of recent governmental recommendations. That impact is being felt in the form of increased oil prices.

A recent recommendation, released in a report from the National Commission investigating the spill, calls for the Department of the Interior to create an agency which will oversee oil exploration in deep waters off the coast the United States.

Oil companies and experts voiced concern that the oversight will limit drilling and exploration and would in turn reduce oil production. The reaction of the market appears to be in step with the company officials. In response to the recent report, the price of crude oil rose more than two percent reaching a high for the week.