"Until the flow of oil from this well can be halted, there will remain considerable uncertainty over the potential damages," said Peter Hitchens, an analyst at Panmure Gordon & Co. in London. "Although we believe that the market has overreacted to the bad news, we feel that there will be little stimulus to the shares whilst this leak continues to pump oil into the sea."

Eoin Treacy's view Apart from the very serious environmental consequences of this disaster, attitudes to deep water drilling have been soured. This is unfortunate because a great deal of expected new supply is expected to come from offshore wells in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil and this mishap has at least delayed bringing more of these resources online.

With the appetite for deep water drilling subsiding for a while, attention is likely to refocus on unconventional, onshore potential developments. Among these shale gas continues to hold great promise and Shell is the latest major oil company to make an acquisition in the sector.

We have said on a number of occasions that we believe unconventional gas is a game changer and could help to keep a lid on energy costs over the medium term. The exploitation of shale, sand and tight gas could diminish a major potential threat in the form of significantly higher oil prices, to global growth.