BP (NYSE:BP) Shares on Hold Until Justice Probe Completed

There are a number of things that need to be resolved before BP's (NYSE:BP) shares will be able to be released from the current constraints on them, not the least of which is the ongoing investigation by the U.S. Justice Department.

An investigation by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will determine whether or not BP will be designated as being grossly negligent under the Clean Water Act. If they are, their costs would be up to $17.6 billion.

They would actually be much higher though, as their partners in the failed Macondo well, Anadarko (NYSE:APC) and Mitsui (NASDAQ:MITSY), would be exempt from paying for their part in the mishap because of the terms of the partnership if BP is considered to be grossly negligent in the matter. That could be worth several billion more at minimum to them.

Other potential consequences could be the forfeiture well operating licenses and not being allowed to bid on future government contracts.

Until this is brought to a conclusion, BP shares will continue to underperform.

At this time BP is the largest operator in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP (NYSE:BP) Still Hasn't Responded to Advance Notice Demand of Justice Department

It's not surprising that BP (NYSE:BP) hasn't responded to the demand by the U.S. Justice Department to give them 30 days advance notice of any asset sales or transfers of cash, as it's unprecedented, and may not even be legal, if BP wanted to go that route to challenge it.

If BP were to agree to this, everything they could do would be made public to their competitors, and essentially the U.S. government would be running the company, no matter how they spin it. At least in the sense of all the big decisions.

This is an unusual request to say the least, and seems to go beyond the authority of the Justice Department.

Of course this is taking advantage of the PR disaster of BP, and is using that to pressure them to be under the control of the government, which is what this really is all about.