Who Pays? We do.

Beyond Their Comprehension

“ Society will demand that BP pay, and they will, but in the end it is we who will pay. We can take all their profits, which would mean they would not re-invest them in finding and producing more oil for us, so our prices would rise. We will increase taxes and regulatory costs on the industry as a whole, which will be passed on to we the consumers. Yes, BP makes a lot of profit, but they employ huge amounts of capital to do it, and over decades neither they nor the rest of the industry have returned significantly more as a percentage than business in general (and a lot less than many fields.) We, the investors, will not give BP or the oil industry the capital to provide us with oil unless we are compensated for it - by we, the consumers. If the oil companies are taking unacceptable risks (as certainly seems to be the case) then we, the consumers, are going to have to pay more for our gas and oil to 'allow' the oil companies to reduce the risks (or just not operate where the risks are too high.) Glenmore from elsewhere ”

Picture via SondraK