BP Oil Disaster: Two Years Later

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Fire boats battle a fire at the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon April 21, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana.

Two years after the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, BP shares are still down by nearly a third but have rebounded 57 percent from their lowest level following the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

BP shares closed at $60.48 on April 20, 2010, hours before the explosion that killed 11 workers. A day before the second anniversary, the stock closed at $42.50, 30 percent lower.

In the first 100 days after BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, the company's market cap value plummeted $70.3 billion, or about 59 percent.

While BP and the federal government struggled to stop the estimated 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil discharged into the gulf each day, the company's shares hit their lowest level in 14 years, closing at $27.02 on June 25, 2010.

At that point, the market cap loss of BP stood at $104.4 billion, down 55 percent from company's value before the explosion.

Even though BP successfully lowered a containment cap over the leaking well on July 15, replaced CEO Tony Hayward with Bob Dudley, and set aside about $41 billion for costs related to the spill, the repercussions of the greatest environmental disaster in American history continue to be felt by the communities affected.

Since the lowest point in 2010, BP's market cap value has increased by $50 billion to $134.7 billion today.

The U.K. oil producer estimates its earnings will rise $350 million a year for every $1 gain in Brent crude, which has jumped $40 a barrel to $125 since the explosion.

And recently, Chief Financial Officer Brian Gilvary said the company's best estimate for the cost of the spill remains at $37.2 billion.

Source: CNBC Analytics and Thomson Reuters

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