BP shares down but US allows it to keep oil cap shut

Shares in BP fell two per cent, by 8p to 399.35p, after the US government ordered the oil giant to set out a plan for reopening the capped well.

Retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who is in charge of the oil clean-up, had asked BP officials for a submission by this morning, but has authorised the firm to keep the cap on its well shut for another 24 hours.

BP wants to test its new cap until it can open relief wells to stop the flow of oil but the discovery of seepage could mean there are still leaks.

The US government intends to pipe oil to the surface, which would ease pressure on the well but would mean letting oil spill into the Gulf for three more days.

Allen said scientists received the answers they wanted about how BP was monitoring the seabed in case of any new leaks.

Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer, said: "No one wants to see any more oil flow into the Gulf of Mexico. Right now we don't have a target to return the well to flow."

In a letter to BP managing director Bob Dudley, Allen had said: "When seeps are detected, you are directed to marshal resources, quickly investigate, and report findings to the government in no more than four hours. I direct you to provide me a written procedure for opening the choke valve as quickly as possible without damaging the well should hydrocarbon seepage near the well head be confirmed."

BP is locked into a public relations battle with the Obama administration. If oil again pours into the Gulf, even briefly, it will be the government's doing, not BP's.

The company wants to avoid a repeat of the live underwater video that showed millions of gallons of oil spewing from the blown well for weeks.

Today BP put the cost of dealing with the spill at nearly $4 billion. The company said it had made payments of $207 million to settle individual claims for damages. Almost 116,000 claims have been submitted and more than 67,500 payments have been made, totalling $207 million. Other costs have brought the bill to $3.95 billion.

BP is reportedly considering selling its petrol stations to cover the cost of the disaster.

Options under consideration are thought to include splitting up the group by selling off its refineries and petrol stations, scaling back its American operations and doing more engineering in-house rather than outsourcing it, according to the Sunday Times.

The restructuring will come on top of the sale of about 10% of the group's assets, which will be needed to meet the cost of the oil spill.

Discussions with shareholders are said to be at an early stage, but they will be used to help decide the direction of a formal strategic review, which is expected to be launched by the group's chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg once the ruptured well is finally sealed.

It is thought the restructuring of BP could leave it a significantly smaller firm, which would focus on exploration in emerging oil regions, such as West Africa and Brazil, and lead to it selling off its less profitable downstream arm, which employs about 51,600 people - more than half of BP's 80,300 workforce - but accounts for just 3% of the company's pre-tax profit.

Talks are thought to be continuing between BP and American oil firm Apache Corporation over the sale of assets worth $12 billion (£7.84 billion), including its stake in Alaska's Prudhoe Bay.

A BP spokesman declined to comment.