BP dissapointed private investors as the share price slid even though a
Massive 136 percent jump in profits were recorded for the last quarter.
This was already expected and comments from Lord Browne saying falls in oil expected have brought also helped the stock down.
He says can stand oil price even below $16 pb
The hostage situation in Nigeria getting bad maybe BP putting on some weight today?
Locals want enviroment cleaned up and profits shared.
Any chance?

4th UPDATE: Defensive BP Under Pressure To Mollify US Outrage
(Rewrites, updates throughout with analyst comments.)


By James Herron
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

LONDON (Dow Jones)

A defensive BP PLC (BP) denied Thursday any justification for the collapse in its share price, but analysts warned decisive action was needed to calm the growing political storm that threatens the company's long-term interests in the U.S.

BP shares fell to a 13-year low Thursday morning, initially dropping more than 11% in London following sharp losses in the U.S. the previous day. Shares rebounded later and at 1328 GMT were down 6%, or 22 pence, at 368 pence. BP's U.S.-listed shares opened 9.8% higher.

Traders in credit default swaps, used to insure BP debt, were equally spooked. BP 5-year CDSs widened 195 basis points from Wednesday's close to 570 basis points, equivalent to junk credit, said Markit. BP still has an AA credit rating.

Analysts attributed much of the decline to ever-harsher political rhetoric and urged BP to act quickly to mollify the Obama administration.

"BP has been late to recognize the critical political sensitivity," said NCB Stockbrokers analyst Peter Hutton. "They need to act on this quickly in our view, to give the U.S. establishment enough room to claim progress without resorting to emergency legislation."

Political pressure in the U.S. has focused on BP's plans to pay dividends to shareholders and how it is compensating people affected by the spill.

Capitol Hill lawmakers have repeatedly urged BP to suspend dividends until the spill has been stopped and the cleanup completed. The U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday it is investigating BP's dividend plans.

Authorities have also been increasing pressure on BP over compensation. The U.S. government's point man on the oil spill, Adm. Thad Allen, demanded Wednesday that BP provide more detail on how it is meeting claims from individuals and businesses. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday that BP should pay the salaries of any oil workers that are laid off as a result of the government's moratorium on offshore drilling, a move that could hugely increase BP's costs.

"Unilateral action against BP over its U.S. operations, be it unreasonable or illegal, hangs over BP," and some kind of concession is required, said Evolution Securities analyst Richard Griffith. "Given the overwhelmingly hostile nature of the U.S. government, the company may decide to suspend payments until the wells are capped."

BP's immediate response following a 16% collapse in its U.S. shares Wednesday night drew criticism for being inadequate. "BP is not aware of any reason for [the] share price movement," it said in a statement, adding that it had sufficient cash flow to meet all costs associated with the spill.

"The statement contains no new information," said Hutton. "It does not address two likely causes of the movement: greater momentum and credibility in reports of oil plumes below the surface now reported to have extended 40 miles from the source, and the political pressure on BP not to pay the dividend," he said. BP should announce a dividend cut soon, he said.

BP could not immediately be reached for additional comment.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley also urged greater action. "The share price reaction is telling BP's board to show its hand quickly," the bank said in a research note. "Investors will want to see the board reiterate confidence in the management team," a give a clear signal on whether it will bow to pressure on its dividend, the note said.

It is vital that BP consider the political aspect of the crisis, said Citigroup. "The U.S. contributes nearly 46% of BP's net value. There is no question that BP needs to do the right thing in the U.S. and protect whatever franchise is left after the Macondo dust settles," it said in a research note.

The political frenzy is also obscuring good news, said JPMorgan Cazenove analyst Fred Lucas. "As the political rhetoric and media frenzy intensify, BP continues to make good progress containing that well," and may soon be able to capture more than 15,000 barrels of oil a day, he said.

If BP can navigate ease the current febrile mood, it could make a convincing argument to remain operating in the U.S., said Morgan Stanley. BP has world-class assets and people with a strong track record in developing deep water, unconventional gas and giant fields. Exactly the skills required to move [U.S.] dependence away from oil imports," it said.

Thats a big lolly pop on heavy volume.

BP: It Collected 15,800 Barrels Of Oil On Wednesday
HOUSTON (Dow Jones)

BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) announced Thursday that its containment system collected 15,800 barrels of oil on Wednesday from a broken well in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

The amount collected is not much of an improvement over the company's containment rate for Tuesday which came in at 15,600 barrels a day.

There have been fears that the collection ship's processing rate has reached a plateau. However, on Wednesday, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said the Discoverer Enterprise might be able to handle up to 18,000 barrels a day.

In the Thursday's announcement, BP said that it flared 31 million cubic feet of natural gas on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the company burned off 29.4 million cubic feet of natural gas.

By next week, BP hopes to have a ready a system that could collect up to 28,000 barrels a day from the spill site. However, some of that oil would be flared into the atmosphere.

As of Thursday, neither BP nor the U.S. government have provided updated estimates about how much oil is actually flowing from the Macondo well. New figures based on scientific analysis are due this week or early next week, Allen has said.

BP has collected 73,300 barrels of oil total since the containment operation began last week.

To be fair ;some big players both buying and selling today ......Anybody any idea who dumped approx 24 million and 10m @ 365 today ?

Bp up 8% in the States.

BP have about 55 billion $ in there war chest...more than enough to cover claims, plus what they make every day. No chance of going bust. buy at the right time and you'll be quids in..

The Blame-game attached to BP is really getting worse than a playground fight.
No-one argues that the drilling should have gone smoothly, or that "not drilling" would be safer. However, as I recall, BP has been very successful at providing American with oil....and this is their first slip of grevous consequences.
It's not as though BP isn't altready paying to clean-up, is it? BP is doing far more than US Authorities did when they let their Banking sector engage in World-breaking activities.

- Oh and US Union Carbide only suffered the detention of the overseer 10-years on, strangely he lived near the Indian plant and couldn't "go home" - many advisors (it is suggested) of the US citizens who it seems have avoided any repercussions.....doesn't seem quite right, eh?'

and this is their first slip of grevous consequences ....... No its their second

Agree with you regarding Union Carbide.

BP plans to defer dividend after pressure from Obama

BP is preparing to defer payment of its next dividend to shareholders by placing the money in an escrow account until the full scale of the companys liabilities from the Gulf of Mexico disaster can be determined, The Times has learnt.

BP board members are discussing a plan that would see the expected 1.7 billion second quarter payout, due to be announced on July 27, delayed until the crisis can be brought under control, relieving some of the political pressure on the oil giant, formerly Britains biggest company.

Also worth a read - Gazprom boss joins calls for BP blowout inquiry

UPDATE ON GULF OF MEXICO OIL SPILL RESPONSE

BP today provided an update on developments in the response to the MC252 oil
well incident in the Gulf of Mexico.

Subsea Source Control and Containment

The lower marine riser package (LMRP) containment cap, installed on June 3,
continues to collect oil and gas flowing from the MC252 well and transport them
to the Discoverer Enterprise drillship on the surface.

In the first 12 hours of June 13 (midnight to noon), approximately 7,720 barrels
of oil were collected and 16.9 million cubic feet of natural gas were flared. On
June 12, a total of approximately 15,000 barrels of oil were collected and 32.9
million cubic feet of natural gas were flared. The total volume of oil collected
by the LMRP cap system since it began operation is approximately 127,000
barrels. A further approximately 22,000 barrels of oil previously had been
collected through use of the Riser Insertion Tube Tool and stored in the
Discoverer Enterprise.

Between June 9 and 11 approximately 115,000 barrels of collected oil were
transferred from storage on the Discoverer Enterprise to the barge Massachusetts
between June 9 and 11. The Massachusetts left the MC252 site on June 11 to
discharge the oil at a terminal in Mobile, Alabama. Once discharge is complete,
the barge will return to the MC252 site.

The volume of oil captured and gas flared is being updated twice daily on BP's
website, www.bp.com. The LMRP containment cap has never before been deployed at
these depths and conditions, and its efficiency and ability to contain the oil
and gas cannot be assured.

UPDATE: BP: Making Progress On Long-Term Oil Spill Solution
(Updates with news about contracted production platform, latest oil-recovery figures and additional background information.)


By Anna Raff
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) said Sunday it was taking steps to implement a more permanent arrangement to capture the oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, as U.S. officials continued to demand more compensation for the spill.

Equipment had been installed and put in place over the weekend as BP worked to put together a system with the flexibility to respond to adverse weather conditions, such as a hurricane, and a bigger storage capacity, the London-based oil giant said in an operational update on its website.

In addition, Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. (HLX) said late Sunday that one of its three offshore oil and gas production facilities was contracted by BP to process and offload crude oil and associated gas. The move to lease the Helix Producer I comes after the U.S. demanded that BP act more quickly and aggressively to contain the oil flows, which estimates peg at 20,000 to 40,000 barrels a day. According to Helix Energy's website, the platform can process 30,000 barrels of crude oil a day.

BP said it recovered 15,040 barrels of oil Saturday using its current method, where liquid hydrocarbons are funneled to a vessel floating above the ruptured well. So far, 119,300 barrels have been collected this way from one of the largest oil spills and ecological disasters in U.S. history, not including 7,720 barrels gathered during the first half of Sunday.

BP bosses to hold dividend talks

BP directors will discuss later whether to suspend dividends to shareholders, following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The firm is under intense pressure from the US government, which wants BP to use the money to pay for the Gulf of Mexico clean-up.

No decision is expected to be announced immediately, with BP bosses due to meet President Barack Obama on Wednesday.

President Obama wants BP to pay money into a ring-fenced fund to compensate those with "legitimate" damages claims.

The company said on Monday that its response to the incident has so far cost $1.6bn (1.1bn).

Obanana wants BP to ring fence cash so that he and his cronies can talk BP down even further. If I was Hayward I would tell Obanana to get stuffed, and pay the dividend. They the septics, are still going to do everything negative they can to BP
so why agree anything.

BP should concentrate on getting the well capped and stuff Obanana.

And remind him about Union Carbine and what happen in India and how much is each victim getting/got plus what punishment did they get.

AT A GLANCE: BP Makes Plan To Capture 50,000 Bbl/Day Of Leak
LONDON (Dow Jones)

Oil continues to flow into the Gulf of Mexico from BP PLC's (BP) Macondo well, affecting hundreds of miles of coastal beaches and marshes in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The spill was triggered by an explosion on April 20 that destroyed the Transocean Ltd. (RIG) drilling platform Deepwater Horizon, killing 11 crew members. BP has been scrambling to cap the well and contain the spill since.

CONTAINMENT: BP outlined new plans to the U.S. Coast Guard Sunday that will allow it to capture 40,000 to 50,000 barrels of oil a day in the Gulf of Mexico--the entire leak by current official estimates--by the end of June. The company said it will achieve this by deploying up to three additional vessels and connecting them to valves on the blowout preventer, which sits atop the well head.

However, it acknowledged numerous challenges to its plan and offered no guarantee of success. In the even of a hurricane, containment operations would have to be completely suspended.

COST AND CONSEQUENCES: BP remains under intense political pressure, especially over whether it will pay its full second-quarter dividend to shareholders.

BP's board will meet Monday, although a spokeswoman said it is not expected to announce a decision on the dividend. BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama Wednesday to discuss the issue. White House officials on Sunday said they wanted BP to put "substantial" funds into an escrow account to cover claims by Gulf Coast businesses and residents affected by the spill.

Containment, cleanup and compensation related to the spill has cost $1.6 billion so far, BP said Monday.

In a sign that BP's woes in the Gulf of Mexico may also affect their international operations, the head of Libya's National Oil Co., Shokri Ghanem, said Monday that he wants further assurances of the safety of deep water drilling the company is planning for his country.

CLEANUP: Almost 475,000 barrels of oily liquid has been skimmed from the water's surface in the Gulf of Mexico, BP said Monday. The total length of containment boom deployed as part of efforts to prevent oil from reaching the coast is now around 470 miles and almost 600 miles of sorbent boom also has been deployed.

WHAT'S NEXT: A second vessel, the Q4000, is expected to arrive at the site of the leak Monday, connect to the blowout preventer and begin capturing and burning off up to 10,000 barrels a day of oil starting Tuesday.

BP America chief Lamar McKay will join four executives from other oil companies at a hearing on Tuesday before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee. BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward will appear Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations, in his first testimony since the April 20 explosion of the Gulf drilling rig.

-By James Herron, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9317; james.herron@dowjones.com

Get out of BP now! The American government are determined to hang BP out to dry. They will not survive this. When a company confronts the American government they invariably lose, Big Time!

Sen. Reid, Democrats Ask BP To Set Aside $20 Billion For Spill
By Siobhan Hughes

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D, Nev.) and members of the Democratic caucus on Monday asked BP Plc (BP) to set aside $20 billion in a special account to be used to pay for economic damages and clean-up costs of an ongoing oil spill in the Gulf Coast.

The lawmakers made the request in a letter to BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward and asked for a response by no later than Friday. The letter comes as U.S. President Barack Obama is preparing to ask BP to set up an independently administered fund for reimbursing victims.

In a call with reporters, Sen. Patty Murray (D, Wash.) and Sen. Bob Menendez (D, N.J.) said that the letter was not intended to set a limit on the payouts BP would make in connection with the spill, which followed an April 20 explosion of a drilling rig that BP was leasing in the Gulf of Mexico.

The money "is an attempt" to make sure that commercial fishermen, tourism-related businesses and others in the gulf who have "immediate claims" will be "held whole," Menendez said.

Asked whether providing the $20 billion would cause Menendez to adjust legislation that currently would eliminate a cap on damage claims that BP and other companies would have to pay for spills and make the policy retroactive, Menendez said that "while I think the $20 billion is incredibly important as a very significant down payment towards the claims of individuals," he said that "I just don't want to limit that liability to that."

-By Siobhan Hughes; Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6654; siobhan.hughes@dowjones.com

Theres half their War-chest gone, the other half will go to OilSpill-Lawyers4U, and hey presto, bye bye BP. And it was supposedly in my Dreams ! More-like in YOUR nightmares.