BP urged to split in two as power of oil majors comes under scrutiny

BP’s image, tarnished by the Texas City refinery fire, has been further damaged in the United States in recent weeks by the worst-ever oil spill in Alaska’s environmentally sensitive Prudhoe Bay.

The oil group has already unbundled and sold its Innovene chemicals arm amid growing public disquiet about the power of multinationals but Cazenove said it was time to be even bolder and divide BP into two. “Atomisation of ‘big oil’ could positively re-rate [the share price of] the discounted parts,” argued Fred Lucas, the lead oil and gas analyst at Cazenove.

The Guardian