^{Monday 19th July 2010}

BP shares fell as much as 5% on Monday amid new fears that a fresh leak was spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico despite the containment cap holding back most of the leak.

The concern of a fresh spill was raised in a letter from Admiral Thad Allen, the highest-ranking US official dealing with the day-to-day response in the US Gulf of Mexico.

BP’s shares were trading at 399p at midday in London, down 2% from the last session. Last week they had recovered to trade above 400p, from lows around 300p last month, as the company made progress towards containing the leak.

Since the explosion of the oil rig and the spill that left a wake of destruction, BP shares have fallen by around 50% of their value. Investors such as Anthony Bolton have been publicaly announcing that now is the time to invest in the British based oil company. The Middle East have also been interested in investing within BP with Libya and Abu Dhabi expressing their interest.

It is thought that the compensation that BP will have to pay will run into tens of millions of dollars, with the US government still discussing whether to ban the company from drilling in American waters.

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