I've been looking at the Valdez spill, try to get a handle on what could ultimately happen to BP's share price. The Exxon disaster occurred during a politically favorable administration, also the damage to fisheries and wildlife, although castastrophic, occurred in a really remote area of the US. Plus the spill was a one shot deal. BP's situation is like spill after spill after spill etc... A very rough guess would be 50 to 100 times the awarded damages of Valdez spill (which was 5 billion 1989 dollars), so I'm sure BP is more or less a goner. No merger, no takeover, no government bailout, no nothing.