We’re better learning the cost behind BP CEO Tony Hayward’s Knute Rockne-style declaration that his company will “spend whatever it takes” to turn around the gushing black hole that is the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster.
As of right now, BP has already committed $1.25 billion to fix the blunder. That price tag stands to increase quickly — the U.S. Coast Guard has already instructed BP to pay another $360 million for sand booms to prevent oil from reaching the Louisiana coastline.
The company has already paid $48 million to 18,000 people out of the 37,000 who are making claims against it, meaning there will be more work for BP’s bean counters as they try to get a handle on the whole disaster. The disaster’s weighed heavily on the company’s stock value, too. According to Bloomberg, shares of the beleaguered company have lost nearly a third of their value since the disaster started in April.