Seems like Obama's administration didn't get the 20 billion fund after all

'Will you stop writing about BP ?' I am told by the few who choose to read my thoughts, but with the risk of losing those few who do read me (or at least of having another post skipped by them, for after all - isn't it the purpose of the headline ? to guide the reader to read or to save his precious time ?), I wish to dedicate a few more lines to that sad affair of BP's oil disaster in the gulf of Mexico.

The reason is that in an article that seemingly relates to BP's CEO coming demise, a surprising news item is hidden, which I haven't seen anywhere, and which tells that the 20 Billion dollars fund details have never been finalised and agreed uupon, despite the impressions Obama's administration tried to create.
Charles Ortel, a managing director at Newport Value Partners, and a fan of political intrigue,

told Aaron Task of 'Yahoo Finance Tech Ticker' that of 'a July 7 email from Rachael MacLean in BP Investor Relations - North America, who wrote: "The detailed agreement has not yet been finalized and it is currently unclear whether or not it will be made publicly available when it is completed. I do not have a time frame for when this agreement is expected to be completed." '


According to Yahoo Finance, BP's MacLean told them "there's nothing new" to report beyond the email.

"No escrow monies have been put in," she said before referring me to BP's PR department.

According to that piece, it appears that there is a battle between BP and the administration regarding the meaning of the fund. BP sought to receive a government promise that the 20 Billion deal would mark the cap on its maximum liability, regarding the Gulf disaster.
One can understand BP, for refusing to commit itself for what would become the floor of its liability, instead of its ceiling-mark.
One can also understand Obama's administration, who after weeks of attempting to leverege the crisis as a mean to promote oil alternatives, would suddenly have to commit to a number defining the disaster, a number which might be adequate in objective eyes, but which will be accepted by the public as a government surrender to BP's villains... the public does not like Cash Cows to be left unmilked, after all, and Obama's administration has - for pretence sake - to appear as a Robin-Hood like image, and not as the protector of the rich...

So I guess there won't be a fund after all. How interesting.

[update: BP has released the following item regarding the fund:

"BP announced today that it has established a trust and made a $3 billion initial deposit of the previously-announced $20 billion escrow account to pay legitimate claims arising from the Deepwater Horizon incident and the resulting oil and gas spill. ... An additional $2 billion deposit will be made in the fourth quarter of 2010. Thereafter, $1.25 billion will be deposited per quarter until a total of $20 billion has been deposited. "

I know that it would appear as if I'm refusing the change my mind. After all, it might just have been beaurocractical and legal issues, delaying the fund. Anyone who has followed BP's financial statements, knows that the company's plan of asset selling, and the declared balance sheet, are set in a different pace than the one stated. It appears that BP has chosen to gamble on the fund as a possible shield, but that it also  manages a careful 'wait and see' policy, which leaves it with a significant control over the flow of the money into the fund. One has to hand it to the BP guys - it seems like they have found a reasonable solution to the abused-fund scenario]