Oil spill not drowning BP, so far

British Petroleum (BP) insisted Tuesday that it can cope with soaring oil spill costs without asking shareholders for cash, amid reports that Britain is working on a crisis plan if the oil giant is sunk by the disaster.

A company spokeswoman told AFP, "We are not issuing any new equity," denying weekend reports that BP was planning to sell new stock to a strategic investor.

IG Index analyst David Jones told the agency that the news "has calmed any nerves that BP's value would be diluted."

However, The Times reported Tuesday that the British government is working on crisis action in case BP is ruined by the costs of coping with the oil spill, without citing its sources.

Talks between BP and the Department for Business and the Treasury show mounting concern that the company could collapse, the report said.

The paper added that British Prime Minister David Cameron and Energy Secretary Chris Huhne would discuss BP's future with US government officials on a trip to Washington on July 20.

An insider also told the newspaper that the question had been raised as to whether, under extreme circumstances, the government should intervene to save BP with a taxpayer bailout.

According to the Financial Times, BP is trapping about 25,000 barrels of oil a day from the Deep-water Horizon well, suggesting that, on the basis of the US government's best guess of the total size of the leak, about 10,000 barrels a day are still escaping.

The UK oil producer is not in a position to make a significant difference to its financial position until its second-quarter results on July 27 at the earliest, when it will give some idea of the total bill it is facing, the newspaper said Monday.

The New York Times pointed out Tuesday that BP is actively seeking partners to shoulder the oil spill cost.

Citing newly released documents, the paper said that BP sent out demands for nearly $400 million to its partners in the well, or roughly 40 percent of the $1 billion it spent in May.

Agencies