Medvedev about the Catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has questioned the future of BP, saying the oil giant may face “annihilation” after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, he described the spill as a “wake-up call”, and said that “hopefully [BP] can afford the losses”.
Moody’s rating agency also downgraded BP’s credit rating by three notches.
BP, which says its finances are sound, has agreed to put aside $20bn (£13.5bn) to compensate victims of the oil spill.
Moody’s said the full costs of the oil spill would have a negative impact on the company’s cash flow for “a number of years”.
As a result, it downgraded BP from A2 to Aa2.
However, it said the company’s payments into the compensation fund were “manageable”.
Earlier this week, the two other major international credit ratings agencies, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s, also downgraded BP. Read more »