For Sale: BP's Siphoned Oil

Oil from the worst spill in US history could soon end up at gas stations as BP sells the crude taken from its ruptured Gulf well. The energy giant announced this week it will donate its share of the proceeds to fund efforts to protect and restore wildlife habitat along the Gulf Coast, though it gave no specifics. "There's nothing special about it, other than everyone's looking at it," says a BP spokesman.

Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said that 4 million gallons of crude have so far been siphoned, with an additional 18 million gallons skimmed from the ocean surface. It's unclear how much the captured oil will be worth once it's sold. Oil was trading around $74 a barrel yesterday, but BP officials said they expect to get a lower price than normal because the oil captured from the leak is laced with methanol. "I think it's an eye-opening experience for people who don't give it much thought when they finally realize how much their lives depend on oil," says an expert. (More Gulf oil spill stories.)