Oil Spill Fallout: BP's Stock Plummets Today Over Bankruptcy Speculation

BP's (NYSE: BP) share-price dropped almost 15% today (-$5.48) over speculation that the oil giant is running the risk of going bankrupt.

Shares ended the day on the New York Stock Exchange at $29.20 which is down almost 50% from a share price of $59.48 on April 19th, one day before the disaster began to unfold in the Gulf of Mexico.

The sell-off began earlier today when longtime energy investment banker Mathew Simmons (and author of the must-read book, Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy) predicted in a Fortune Magazine article that,

"they [BP] have about a month before they declare Chapter 11. They're going to run out of cash from lawsuits, cleanup and other expenses."

The StreetInsider's Blog warns though that, "while these bold comments make for good media headlines, investors need to evaluate the likelihood of such an event happening based on the limited amount of solid data that is out there.

Started in 1909, British Petroleum (BP PLC) is the third largest oil company and the fourth largest company in the world, with over 92,000 employees and revenue last year of US$246.1 billion.