BP’s problem in the Gulf of Mexico is many things, including a scandalous waste of money. That much was clear from the headline figure accompanying yesterday’s second-quarter results announcement – a pre-tax charge of $32.2bn to cover the quantifiable cost of the clean-up. That is about half as much again as this year’s estimated replacement cost profit, and consists of $2.9bn spent so far and $29.3bn to come, including the $20bn committed to an escrow fund. It is the price, in lost revenues for exploration and development, lost dividends for shareholders and lost tax revenues for governments, of an entirely avoidable accident. When Big Oil screws up, it screws up big.
英國石油(BP)在墨西哥灣遭遇的問題造成了諸多后果，其中一點，是資金的驚人浪費。這一點在該公司昨日發布的第二季度財報中顯露無遺：為清理漏油的可計成本，BP撥備了322億美元的稅前資金。這大約是該集團今年預期重置成本利潤的一半，其中包括迄今已經花費的29億美元和未來將花費的293億美元（包括設立托管基金所需的200億美元）。這是為一場完全可以避免的事故所付出的代價。BP損失了開采和開發收益，股東損失了股息，政府損失了稅收。大型石油公司一旦出問題，問題就小不了。