This morning, on the NYSE, the shares of BP PLC opened at $36.91. That was $6, or 14%, below Friday’s close of $42.95.

On April 19, the day before the Deepwater Horizon oil rig went kaboom, BP closed at $59.48. Since then, the shares have lost 38% of their value.

In dollar terms, stockholder wealth has dropped from $186 billion on April 19 to $116 billion this morning.

Presumably, that’s significant enough to get the attention of other oil companies too? One certainly hopes that there has been a sudden explosion, industry-wide, of keen interest in beefing up safety standards as well as the capability for handling deep-water oil spills quickly and effectively.

Incidentally, did you know that in Canada, when oil companies drill in the environmentally sensitive Arctic region, they are required to drill a relief well right along with the main well? Such a requirement would allow an instant reaction to disasters such as the Deepwater Horizon spill.

Naturally, BP is on record as opposing this policy:

…shortly before the U.S. disaster, BP and other oil companies urged Canadian regulators to drop a requirement stipulating that companies operating in the Arctic had to drill relief wells in the same season as the primary well.