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?

Statement on Gulf of Mexico

BP strongly disagrees with the decision issued today by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana and will immediately appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

BP believes that the finding that it was grossly negligent with respect to the accident and that its activities at the Macondo well amounted to willful misconduct is not supported by the evidence at trial. The law is clear that proving gross negligence is a very high bar that was not met in this case. BP believes that an impartial view of the record does not support the erroneous conclusion reached by the District Court.

The Court has not yet ruled on the number of barrels spilled and no penalty has yet been determined. The District Court will hold additional proceedings, which are currently scheduled to begin in January 2015, to consider the application of statutory penalty factors in assessing a per-barrel Clean Water Act penalty. The Clean Water Act requires the District Court to consider a number of factors in determining an appropriate penalty. The statutory maximum penalty is $1,100 per barrel where the court finds simple negligence and $4,300 per barrel where the court finds gross negligence or willful misconduct. During the penalty proceedings, BP will seek to show that its conduct merits a penalty that is less than the applicable maximum after application of the statutory factors.

BP is reviewing the decision and will issue a further statement as soon as possible.

Skinny, you just don't know what will happen next with BP.
I can't believe that there will be a further massive fall after tomorrow's further "adjustment" once everyone else digests the ruling. Maybe you were a bit quick with the SB?
Personally as I have a chunk of these and reinvest all of my dividends I am looking for the court ruling to be overturned and it to be deemed simple negligence but, hey ho, who knows - we are dealing with the US Legal System and they love to show how big they are!

Yes - I was a bit rash.

BP closed down 5.9% in the US having been down 5.7% at our close.

I agree about the "simple negligence' outcome - but not until the lawyers et al have wrung as much money as possible from BP.

I also have a reasonable long term holding which was starting to look quite promising again!

The latest from Reuters - BP 'grossly negligent' in 2010 U.S. spill, fines could be $18 billion

Barclays Capital Equal weight 461.55 600.00 600.00 Reiterates

Jefferies International Buy 461.55 570.00 570.00 Reiterates

JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight 461.55 - - Reiterates

Liberum Capital Hold 457.48 500.00 500.00 Retains

Canaccord Genuity Buy 457.48 560.00 560.00 Reiterates

Investec Hold 457.48 460.00 440.00 Retains

BP can absorb new oil spill fine, analysts say


New fines could prompt BP to cut Russia exposure

Share Repurchase Programme

BP p.l.c. (the "Company") announces it has today entered into a repurchase mandate agreement with an independent third party to terminate and replace the repurchase mandate agreement entered into and announced on 31 July 2014.

Under the repurchase mandate agreement entered into today, the independent third party will manage the share repurchases for the remaining period of the replaced repurchase mandate agreement through to 12 September 2014.

The independent third party will make its trading decision in relation to the purchase of the Company's securities independently of, and uninfluenced by the Company. On the purchase, the Company's shares will be cancelled.

The purpose of the share buy-backs is to reduce the Company's issued share capital.

Any purchases will be effected within certain pre-set parameters and in accordance with the Company's general authority to repurchase shares granted by its shareholders at the Company's 2014 Annual General Meeting and Chapter 12 of the Listing Rules.

Closed +10.

UK government lends hand to BP in U.S. Gulf oil spill rulings

(Reuters) - The British government has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review appeals court rulings against BP Plc (BP.L) over a 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill that produced one of the largest class actions in American history.

In a friend of court brief, the UK government said lower court rulings raise grave international concerns by undermining confidence in the "vigorous and fair resolution of disputes."

The filing said BP, which has "gone to great lengths to restore the Gulf Coast", was now being required to pay large sums to others who were not injured by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

BP reports third quarter 2014 results

BP today reported its financial results for the third quarter of 2014. Underlying replacement cost profit1 for the quarter was $3.0 billion, compared with $3.7 billion for the same period in 2013. Operating cash flow for the quarter was $9.4 billion, compared with $6.3 billion in 3Q 2013. Total operating cash flow for the first nine months of 2014 was $25.5 billion.

"BP's operational momentum continues to deliver results," said Bob Dudley, BP Group Chief Executive. "Growing underlying production of oil and gas and a good downstream performance generated strong cash flow in the third quarter, despite lower oil prices. This keeps us well on track to hit our targets for 2014."

Reflecting confidence in delivering its 2014 operating cash flow targets and the robustness of its financial framework in a weaker oil price environment, BP announced a quarterly dividend of 10 cents per ordinary share, a 5.3% year-on-year increase. It is expected to be paid in December.

BP has continued its programme of share buy-backs and $10 billion has now been used to buy back shares for cancellation since March 2013. Divestments with a cumulative value of $4 billion have now been agreed towards a total of $10 billion expected by the end of 2015.

Organic capital expenditure in the first nine months of 2014 was $16.3 billion and BP now expects organic capital expenditure for the full year to be around $23 billion, compared with previous guidance of $24-25 billion. At the end of the third quarter BP's net debt was equivalent to a gearing level of 15.0%, within the company's target range of 10% to 20%.

"We are maintaining our strong financial framework, with both a conservative level of gearing and a strictly disciplined approach to investment," commented Brian Gilvary, BP Chief Financial Officer. "This provides resilience through periods of oil market volatility."

BP's Upstream segment reported underlying pre-tax replacement cost profit of $3.9 billion for 3Q 2014, compared with $4.4 billion a year earlier. This result reflected the negative impacts of lower oil prices, partly offset by higher gas prices and increased production from key higher-margin regions.

BP's total reported oil and gas production for the quarter averaged 3.1 million barrels of oil equivalent a day (mmboed). Excluding Russia, underlying oil and gas production2 grew strongly, by 4.1% compared with the third quarter of 2013. Reported production excluding Russia was 2.1 mmboed, 2.7% lower than the third quarter of 2013 due primarily to the expiry of an Abu Dhabi concession in January 2014.

BP reported underlying net income from Rosneft for the quarter of $110 million compared with $808 million a year earlier 3. The depreciation of the rouble against the dollar over the period had a significant impact on the result, together with lower Urals oil prices and associated duty tax lag effects.

The Downstream segment reported underlying pre-tax replacement cost profit for the quarter of $1.5 billion compared with $0.7 billion a year earlier. The improvement was driven by a stronger refining environment as well as an increased contribution from supply and trading activities.

In exploration, three oil discoveries have been made since mid-year: Vorlich in the central UK North Sea, Xerelete in Brazil's Campos basin, and Guadalupe in the deepwater US Gulf of Mexico.

"These three discoveries come after successful wells in Angola and Egypt earlier in the year. This builds on 2013, our best year for exploration drilling in a decade, and demonstrates our success in rebuilding the momentum of our exploration programme," said Dudley.

The start-up of the Kinnoull project in the UK North Sea is now in progress - the sixth major upstream project start-up in 2014. The Sunrise project in Canada is also scheduled to begin operations before the end of the year. In addition, production at the Rhum gas field in the UK North Sea has recommenced following implementation of a temporary management scheme with the UK government.

The total cumulative pre-tax charge for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill remained at $43 billion at the end of the quarter 4.

In September 2014, the district court in New Orleans ruled that, under the US Clean Water Act (CWA), the discharge of oil was the result of gross negligence and wilful misconduct by BP Exploration & Production Inc. (BPXP) and that BPXP is therefore subject to enhanced civil penalties. BP intends to appeal this ruling 5.

During the quarter, increased costs for claims administration, natural resource damage assessment and business economic loss claims eliminated the remaining unallocated headroom in the $20 billion trust. Subsequent costs over and above that provided within the trust will be charged to the income statement; $25 million was charged in the third quarter. The aggregate remaining cash balance in the trust and qualified settlement funds at the end of the quarter was $6.0 billion.

Jefferies International Buy 0.00 - 540.00 Reiterates

Deutsche Bank Hold 0.00 550.00 550.00 Reiterates

Barclays Capital Equal weight 437.78 600.00 600.00 Reiterates

Citigroup Buy 437.78 510.00 510.00 Reiterates

Share Repurchase Programme

BP p.l.c. (the "Company") announces it has today entered into a repurchase mandate agreement with an independent third party following the expiry of the repurchase mandate agreement previously entered into and announced in respect of the period of 29 September 2014 to 28 October 2014.

Under the repurchase mandate agreement entered into today, the independent third party will manage the share repurchases for the period of 29 October 2014 to 7 November 2014.

The independent third party will make its trading decision in relation to the purchase of the Company's securities independently of, and uninfluenced by the Company. On purchase, the Company's shares will be cancelled.

The purpose of the share repurchases is to reduce the Company's issued share capital.

Any purchases will be effected within certain pre-set parameters and in accordance with the Company's general authority to repurchase shares granted by its shareholders at the Company's 2014 Annual General Meeting and Chapter 12 of the Listing Rules.

Deutsche Bank Buy 405.95 405.95 500.00 480.00 Upgrades

BP presents Upstream strategy to investors

BP is set to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in earnings and dividend income from Rosneft, Russia’s state-owned oil company, as a result of the plunge in crude prices and financial turmoil that has sent the rouble tumbling. Analysts are predicting that the 47% slide in the rouble over the past three months will lead to a sizeable fourth-quarter loss for BP on its Rosneft stake. They expect that loss to be as much as $750 mln, the first of its kind in Russia for the UK energy major – FT.

From yesterday :- U.S. judge rules that BP spill smaller than feared

The RNS for yesterday's news :- BP statement on Phase 2 decision in Gulf oil spill trial

Today the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana ruled on the issues raised in the Phase 2 trial of the Deepwater Horizon case: the quantification of oil spilled and BP's source control efforts following the accident. The Court found that 3.19 million barrels of oil were discharged into the Gulf of Mexico and therefore subject to a Clean Water Act (CWA) penalty. In addition, the Court found that BP was not grossly negligent in its source control efforts.

No penalty has yet been determined. The decisions in the Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials represent steps in the process of assessing a CWA penalty. The third phase of the CWA trial, currently scheduled to begin in the Court on Tuesday, 20 January, 2015, will address the penalty to be assessed.

During the penalty proceedings, the Court is required to consider the application of eight statutory factors, including the violator's efforts to minimize or mitigate the effects of the spill: the seriousness of the violation or violations; the nature, extent, and degree of success of any efforts of the violator to minimize or mitigate the effects of the discharge; the economic impact of the penalty on the violator; the economic benefit to the violator, if any, resulting from the violation; the degree of culpability involved; any other penalty for the same incident; any history of certain types of prior violations; and any other matters as justice may require. BP believes that considering all the statutory penalty factors together weighs in favor of a penalty at the lower end of the statutory range.

BP is continuing to review the Court's decision.


- ENDS -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJbGut20FRI

Barclays Capital Overweight 419.68 432.95 550.00 550.00 Reiterates

Final Results

BP beats expectations on surprise Russian profit, stock jumps

(Reuters) - Oil major BP (BP.L) beat expectations for the fourth quarter of 2014 thanks to a surprise profit from its stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft (ROSN.MM) while taking a $3.6 billion (£2.4 billion) impairment charge and cutting spending due to low oil prices.

The firm reported underlying replacement cost profit at $2.2 billion versus expectations of $1.5 billion. BP's stock jumped over 5 percent at the opening, outperforming the broader European oil and gas sector .SXEP.

The outperformance was due to an unexpected profit of $470 million from Rosneft which has been hit hard by Western sanctions over Moscow's role in Ukraine as well as the falling oil prices.

BP, which holds a 19.75 percent stake in Rosneft, said the figures were based on provisional numbers and could change.