Who "Owns" the Oil Spilled Into the Gulf? BP? The U.S. Government? Other?

[David Zephyr]

This question was posed to me by a lady while we were waiting for our cars to be serviced: Who gets to keep the oil spilled into the Gulf that is being put into the shipping vessels?

I did not have an answer, but I've sort of figured it belonged to BP. And then I got to thinking, why would I think that? Am I so conditioned that I would think that the oil would be theirs to market?

BP should own the oil spill clean-up and its cost.

But should BP get away with also the bounty of oil? That's a lot of oil.

[GoCubsGo]

1. Apparently, BP is

Keith Olbermann had a piece on a company in Alberta that produces peat mats that suck up oil very efficiently. According to Keith's story, BP is refusing to use them, because the oil that gets soaked up cannot be reclaimed. That, and a few other similar stories lead me to believe that it's their oil to keep.

[librechik]

2. BP owned it and planned to sell it to China. Not our oil. Ever.

And they paid the US practically nothing for the privilege. We are giant useless fools and they are rapacious ruthless sociopaths.

Guess who wins.

[sabrina 1]

3. BP owns it.

The U.S. has been leasing oil fields to Oil Corps and we get royalties, I'm not sure how much but read somewhere that the U.S. gets about 12% of the total profits.

I didn't know that either, because the argument for Offshore Drilling has always been that it will 'reduce our dependence on foreign oil'. The only way that would be true would be if U.S. oil was nationalized.

Combined with the argument that we do not produce enough oil to even get close to satisfying our needs and the fact that we don't even own it when it is drilled, I don't see how it benefits the U.S. at all to allow it.

In all the discussions about offshore drilling, I never once say that addressed, that the oil has been sold to multi-national corps who are actually the ones who profit from it. I wish I had known that when arguing with freepers when Bush and McCain were pushing for it.

[dipsydoodle]

4. The U.S. Government

receives royalties. That deal is pretty much universal for governments throughout the world.

[stray cat]

5. no one I suspect as the ocean is not owned

[PJPhreak]

6. BP owns it,

Oil,just like your car has a Title.

This "Title of Ownership" is issued by the Feds and is used to transfer ownership from the Driller (Bp) to the Refiner (Exxon lets say) and then to the Distribtor (Frontier Oil Co. for example) and finally to your local purchase point (Quik Trip,WaWa,AmPm ect)