MarketWatch
June 14, 2010, 2:18 p.m. EDT
By MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — BP PLC executives troop back to Capitol Hill Tuesday for another tongue-lashing over the catastrophic Gulf oil spill. This time, however, lawmakers are pulling BP’s long-time peers into the slugfest.
On Tuesday, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce will question top executives from Exxon Mobil Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!xom/quotes/nls/xom (XOM 61.37, -0.49, -0.79%) , Chevron Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!cvx/quotes/nls/cvx (CVX 74.18, +0.12, +0.16%) , ConocoPhillips /quotes/comstock/13*!cop/quotes/nls/cop (COP 52.80, -0.70, -1.31%) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC /quotes/comstock/13*!rds.a/quotes/nls/rds.a (RDS.A 52.38, -0.02, -0.04%) about the spill’s impact on their industry.
Including BP /quotes/comstock/13*!bp/quotes/nls/bp (BP 30.67, -3.30, -9.71%) , these are Big Oil’s Big Five in the United States, all with huge stakes in the future of the Gulf of Mexico and deepwater drilling in general.
When BP’s Macondo well blew out in April, the industry put up a united front. They knew they would all feel the sting of a ban on deepwater drilling and closer regulatory scrutiny.
Hot Stocks: BP retreats
BP shares tumble as the oil firm grapples with mounting regulatory woes tied to the spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which is approaching its eighth week. However, the broader energy sector is building on recent gains. MarketWatch’s Steve Gelsi reports.
When they file into this hearing, however, there’s likely to be a crack in that united front. BP has turned toxic, and the others know it. It’s in their own interest now to argue against rules that would hurt the industry while letting BP dangle alone.
And if they leave lawmakers with the impression that the worst oil spill ever in U.S. waters was the result of one company’s recklessness, that’s fine.
But there might be another, more opportunistic motive at work here.
BP’s shares have been hammered. The rest of the offshore oil industry took a heavy blow as well, but many of those stocks are turning around. Energy equities were among the market’s strongest performers last week. Meanwhile, BP continues to tank, down another 8% in New York on a day when almost every other oil company was up. Read about BP’s mounting problems.
There’s increasing speculation on Wall Street and in the oil industry itself that BP might be so badly wounded it can’t recover. If that’s the case, BP’s extensive worldwide assets would be up for grabs.
So it’s hardly any wonder Exxon Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell are circling, taking a close look at whether distressed BP assets might make a tasty addition to their own holdings.
Given the political climate in Washington and the sentiment in the marketplace, BP has every reason to suspect it might soon find itself on somebody’s menu.
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
