US Government May Take Over Deepwater Horizon Spill Response

US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar warned BP on Sunday that unless it pulls up its socks, the US government may puch it aside on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response operation, and do the job itself. Some commentators have said such a move wouldn't work, because BP is the only entity with the expertise to operate at a depth of 5000 feet beneath the sea. That can't be true, since BP doesn't have that kind of in-house expertise itself; instead, it relies on outside contractors to do virtually all of the response work, from supply vessels to robots. On the other hand, BP, as one of the Seven Sisters of oil majors, does have access to oilpatch expertise from around the world on this spill. If the US govvernment were to take over the operation from BP, BP's frenemies might not be so willing to help out finding solutions, with the government left holding the bag.