Do You Trust BP?

(BP report poll story updated for potential BP internal conflicts, political risks)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- BP(BP) has released its first post mortem on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill -- and to the surprise of no one, the British oil giant argues that rig operator Transocean(RIG) and deep-water well engineer Halliburton(HAL) should share the blame for the oil rig explosion and oil spill.

>>BP: No Smoking Gun in Oil Spill

Investors seem to buy into the BP report, at least a few investors, with ADR shares of BP up by as much as 3.5% after the BP oil spill report was released at 7 a.m. ET on Wednesday. Yet that may as had as much if not more to do with a ratings upgrade from Fitch Ratings released at the same time.

To state that BP is not exactly an impartial oil spill investigatory commission would be an understatement as obvious as the infamous understatements from outgoing BP CEO Tony Hayward that the environmental impact from the oil spill would be minimal, and that BP didn't have all the tools in its toolkit that it would have liked to contain the oil spill.

It was hard to make a direct case for the BP report being the sole reason for the rise in BP shares on Wednesday. The markets were up again after a losing Tuesday, and the energy-sector gains were outpacing the broader markets early on. Additionally, if BP shares rose as a result of its oil spill report spreading the blame around, one would expect that Transocean and Halliburton might see some negative trading action. This hasn't been the case, with both Halliburton and Transocean shares unaffected by the BP blame game.

It's probably fair to assume that if investors expected BP's report to say that BP accepted responsibility for the oil spill but was far from alone in causing the spill, investors expected Transocean and Halliburton to be targets of the BP report. Therefore, trying to price in any short-term spike or drop in any of these stocks related to the BP report seems like a penny-wise, pound foolish situation.

And let's not forget that the government is far from blameless.

>>4 Things We Hate About the Obama Oil Spill Review

Given that the legal wrangling resulting from the oil spill will play out over years, and that the potential liabilities for BP and the other oil spill companies could reach near the $100 billion mark, the more important question is whether any investor should trust anything BP has to say about the causes of the oil spill.

Do You Trust BP? Vote Now

Vote Now on the BP Oil Spill Report