Exxon given go ahead to make £100bn bid for BP

So it was Barack's plan all along to tarnish their rep to lower SP for takeover bid.

What a crook!!

Here, here James!!

Ooh I agree - how crooked!!

Boycott those dratted people - very vindictive by Obama - shows his true colours. Buy NOTHING American - we can show them we dont need them

Time for this new Government to tighten up the UK's takeover laws or pass legislation preventing a takeover not in the UK's national interest!

So what are the British politicians doing to defend our national interests?

BP was railroaded into setting aside $20billion to pay as yet undefined claims for damages which no doubt will be highly imaginative. You will have shrimp fishermen who have never caught more than a few hundreweight in their lives claiming for millions of tonnes, because of the US's litigious system, everyone is alleged to have the right to their day in court.

And yet the main takeover player EXXON Mobil is fighting the claims for the EXXON Valdiz disaster (do you remember that) through every court in the land. They have hardly paid out any of the claims that have been made against them.

If they do take over BP i bet that they will not be making any cash available without their being ordered to do so by court.

But don't worry about any of this, we Brits still have Tesco and our bankers to look after our interests.

This is rotten to the core !! Where is the UK Gov in all this, I guess they will just stand by and allow this to happen.

Here, here again James. I suspected all along that this was what it was all about.

Typical behaviour of US administration and only to be expected.

Don't suppose we'll even hear a whimper from Cameron.

Disgusting!

Hmmm, maybe some of us pro-Europeans will not be given such a hard time by those Conservatives who are always singing the praises of America.

I will believe it when I see nobody really knows as the situation is ongoing,if they surprise the market and stop the leak earlier than stated, the share price would soar anyway,I hear so much gossip about BP but that is a sure sign that the market is`nt clear on whats going on .

Here we go again: what would the French and Germans do in this situation?Simply block it. Let's all get out there and buy BP because if the government don't have the balls to stop a move like this at least we can benefit.

We've yet to hear much about Transocean and Halliburton, two BP partners who are hardly squeaky clean in the Deepwater Horizon debacle. Maybe in a takeover battle there will be some counter claims going on.

It's to be hoped

Good to know that we have an honest, socialist non-empire building president in the USA who knows how to support his allies.

Bring back Ricahrd Nixon and restore honesty to the White House

Investore Pile in and get the rug pulled from under their feet!

It will happen Ouch!

Still think this was all just an accident? Halliburton up to their neck in it, friends of the NSA. There is a lot more going on here than we are privvy to folks. BPs lack of defense of itself is no coincidence.

Time for the governement to step in and protect British interests. This is nothing other than Obamma induced opportunism. Slating BP then demanding they pay X amount up front before damages are even quantified is outrageous. This drives down the share price and all of a sudden Exxon may be interested in a take-over. It all stinks. Come on Cameron, pull your finger out and protect our interests.

I posted a comment weeks ago saying that this was the plan all along. The Americans are not, or ever have been our friends, they are our competitors.

I do not blame them, they are looking after their own interests.It is a pity our governments have not done the same in the last 50 years.

Hm we'll see, there is more to this than has been reported, yet.

Zombie nations desperate for cash to prop up their burgeoning debts, its all grab, grab, grab. ....and we worry about investing in Russia! Talk about economic recovery, sheesh? That's not a light at the end of the tunnel, its an empty freight train coming and its heading your way!

This is what Obama intended from the beginning. This is typical of the Americans they have no breeding no history and no trust.

Obama is a typical slippery Yankee lawyer from Chicago were the politics are extremely dubious. He is running true to form.

This is why Hayward was in Abu Dhabi last week. Courting Arab money to send a message to the septics. For the record, the correct term is market manipulation - and on this scale it's almost as much of a disgrace as BP's safety record that lead to this mess.

Harken to the words of Dr. Goebbels, the war would produce a hero, a villain and a winner.

The hero, the United Kingdom. The villain, Germany. And the winner, the U.S.A.

Nothing has changed, but look at the adoption of German methods by the U.S.A. since 1945.

Based on Obama 's rants against BP for the spills, why isn't he ranting against Exxon because of their spills on the Nigeria coast, I think?

Been a regular feature there and Exxon does little, and Obama does nothing, so clearly there are wheels within wheels and his rants look awfully like he was setting BP up for this. Pick up the goods on the cheap for better value for the States. Shyster lawyer?

Interesting how all the great minds who were saying the Americans should stop saying BRITISH Petroleum and call a great multinational by its own name -BP- when the oil started polluting the gulf, now seem to think it is really a British company after all

I do not understand all this he anger against US and Obama for trying to take over BP on the cheap. It is the price we have to pay for the special relationship. And when we have no assets worth taking we will still have the Trident to give us some self repect, by jingo !

The Americans let us hang by their coat tails and play big shot and every now and then give us a kick on our behind to remind us who is boss. Get off your knees Cameron and stop pulling your forelock

Gentlemen there is something you forget ;- all the insurance firms have quoted for weeks that pensioners will lose their div's because of OBAMA so have cut their losses by selling stocknow if they bought back everyone is happy= large ££££££££££££££££

The so called special relationship entitles us once again to excercise the privelage of licking arse for free. The only response we appear to be able to give in kind is -- Go suck your socks Mr. President!

7 GBP a share would be about right.

There is a solution to stop this leakage right away. Howver, BP nor American authorities react to it.

The 'dutch solution' is still available.

They are still world champions in deep sea and ocean engineering and the companies involved claim they have the solution at hand. And can start tomorrow.

To make the tools necessary for that solution costs about 3 million euro's and the money is made available by private donors. So they can start as soon as the signal to start is given. That signal could be given by BP but also of course by American authorities.

The solution is submitted to BP. It is understood they've got loads of suggestions but not from sources with authority of these dutch companies; who have now formed a consortium for this possible task.

From what we understand from rumours around BP, it has made a list of 30 potential solutions and this dutch solution is one of them.

The pivotal of the solution is not to try to repair the leaks but to stop the leakage: get the oil around it in a vacuum, then in a pipe to the surface of the sea where it will be collected in an oil tanker or whatever. Then the leakage of oil is completely stopped.

From what we hear from dutch engineers - widely published in dutch media - is that BP is considering much riskier solutions which might even enlarge the problem.

The technology is there, the money to make the tools is there, the experience is there, it is a safe solution, so what are we waiting for?

The fact that nobody reacts must be for a political or commercial reasons, the most cynical one can imagine.

Obama, will be voted out next term, you wait till he has do something really political. The yanks will see through him. Bad mouthing a corporate company, will be insignificant. He knows he's making phony remarks, and that a US company would benefit. The man will lack balls when real sh-- hits the fan.