Abu Dhabi’s ‘Wasta’ Could Save BP

posted on: Jul 9, 2010

Tony Hayward, BP’s embattled chief executive, has few friends in Washington after his handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster. But that could be about to change if Abu Dhabi steps up with a major investment in the U.K. company.

Few of Arabia’s sheiks are more to President Barack Obama’s administration — or possess such a powerful lobbying presence on Capitol Hill — than Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Hayward needs the help of Sheik Mohammed and his influential United Arab Emirates if he’s to prevent BP from being ripped apart.

The emirates were the largest export market for U.S. goods in the Middle East in 2009, with $12.1 billion worth of goods heading in Abu Dhabi’s direction. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs at companies like Boeing Co., General Electric and Lockheed Martin depend on the emirates’ consumption of all things American. This has helped Abu Dhabi make many friends in Washington.

U.S. companies like Exxon Mobil Corp. and Citigroup enjoy an enviable presence in the second-largest Arab economy and, in the case of the latter, Abu Dhabi pumped in about $7.5 billion for a stake in 2007 ahead of the financial crisis. Without Abu Dhabi’s money, Citi could have gone the same way as Lehman Brothers.

Proof of the sheikdom’s “wasta,” which in Arabic literally means influence, in the corridors of U.S. power came last year with political backing for Abu Dhabi to build the Arab world’s first nuclear power plant under the nose of Iran.

Even with the political pressure of midterm elections buidling and the Gulf coast suffering from perhaps the worst environmental catastrophe in U.S. history, it would be tricky for President Obama to keep his boot on BP’s throat if Abu Dhabi sheiks get behind it. So, it’s easy to see why Hayward would be happy to see Abu Dhabi buy a 10% stake.

Whether the sheik’s “wasta” will save Hayward is another matter.

Andrew Critchlow
The Wall Street Journal