April 28, 2011
As Profits Surge, BP Plans to Resume Drilling
With the anniversary of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill still fresh in our minds, the first quarter of 2011 could turn out to be one of the oil industry’s most profitable ever. BP said yesterday it expects to resume drilling in the gulf in the second half of this year.
And that’s not all. As a result of soaring oil prices, the company also said that its net profits rose 17 percent in the first quarter to $7.1 billion. (In a slight consolation, BP’s profit fell 2 percent when compared with the first quarter of 2010, not counting a surge in the value of the company’s inventory.)
As Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in response to this news:
“When BP makes billions in profits, even after the year they just had, you know it’s time to cap the gusher of tax breaks that have been subsidizing the biggest oil companies for decades.”
We couldn’t agree more. Tell Congress to support clean energy legislation, not more dirty drilling.