For the state of Louisiana, which is still dusting itself off from the impact of Hurricane Katrina, this disaster will impact the state's budget significantly. As its governor has stated, "During one of the most challenging economic periods in decades, the last thing we need is to enact public policies that will certainly destroy thousands of existing jobs while preventing the creation of thousands more."

Often times, regulations have unintended consequences. For the Gulf of Mexico, if rules are changed so that there is no upper limit on liability for damages from such incidents, smaller oil companies will be forced out and the super majors may decide it is not worth their bother to drill for wells that would not add significantly to their own oil production numbers.

Finally, for BP and its shareholders, there is another aspect to consider. What would happen if BP bows to pressure from politicians to eliminate their dividend until all damages have been paid? For starters, the largest source of dividend income for UK pension funds is BP stock. If the dividend is halted, what will be the impact on the pensioners? Would this make BP a sitting duck for another super major to take it out and how might this impact diplomatic relations between the UK and the US? Already, there seems to be a significant difference in news coverage between the US and UK media outlets.

Thus, it can be seen that this is no time for "knee jerk" reactions from politicians. There is plenty of time to throw around blame and figure out what the appropriate levels of compensation should be and who will pay those claims. The irony is that just before this accident occurred, the White House had made a decision to show support for an expansion in offshore drilling. Now, they realize that the regulations were not sufficient.

During the run up to his election, it was thought that candidate Obama had been cautious towards future US reliance on the oil sands based on the idea that this was "dirty oil". Today, it seems that the Canadian energy industry might not look so bad. Already, Canada is the US's largest source of foreign oil - with the future of the Gulf of Mexico suddenly in doubt, it looks as if Canada will maintain that mantle for a lot longer than many might have thought.