Good evening ……………… as I was expecting to see the court ordered quarterly reporting on the BP status filed no later than last Friday and as that 3rd quarter report has not been filed as we enter the second month of the fourth quarter, one has to wonder what might be up. This alone really doesn’t mean anything, but when you add other factors maybe just maybe something just might be in the works.
For me my enquiries into the test cases have stalled, this could mean folks are tired of me pressing them for information or court ordered confidentially agreements of the folks, including ATP, that know, might restrict them from addressing my questions and or the filing of status reports; in ATP’s case.
I find it usual that my enquiries have struck a brick wall and we have not seen a status report filing. I have recently started preferencing my questions to law firms with “I hate to be a pest”, but could you tell me ……..! It is easier to tell me later after the deal is done, Doug, you were not a client and I couldn’t share that information with you. And that won’t be the first time I have been told that.
Adding; the trustee now declaring a fiduciary responsibility to equity holders makes one wonder. Maybe just maybe this whole thing is just wishful thinking on my part, BUT SOMETHING JUST MIGHT BE IN THE WORKS.
BP increased the amount set aside to pay for the spill to $53.8 billion. That still may not be enough. I am told by one firm that “It’s realistic to price BP’s total cost, including all remaining claims that haven’t been covered by settlements, north of $70 billion.
One party in the test trial is the successor to Seahawk Drilling and claims the business was “essentially destroyed” and forced into bankruptcy. Seahawk alleges losses of $174.8 million. ATP’s initial claim was for not less than $3 billion. If the test cases prevail, there could be billions of dollars more in claims from firms including Marathon Oil Co., which seeks $47 million for lost offshore production, and Vantage Drilling Co., which is claiming $265 million for increased financing costs tied to projects delayed by the offshore ban. The list goes on and on. Looking at the legal costs to date and the estimated costs in the near future; this time next year today’s estimate of north of $70 billion might exceed north of $100 billion.
We may be at a point in time where BP is trying to establish what the dollar value of all of the remaining claims against them and try to resolve them as they did with the gulf state’s settlement.
I would think any group settlement may result in a percentage of the claim value. My question would be with the initial claim of not less than $3 billion and the additional loss of bankruptcy, what might be ATP’s total claim against BP today. I will be asking the bankruptcy court that question in the coming days.
Anyway this is all speculation on my part, still moving forward day by day, the equity holders are the owners of ATP regardless how you slice it. Maybe just maybe the trustee see’s something in the future that might suggest this recent interest in declaring his fiduciary responsibility to equity holders.
Hell he might end up being everyone’s hero in this case. And I might add very, very, rich.
