The oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has damaged BP's reputation will they manage to avoid a share collapse to 350p.?



472p to buy this morning.

bAHHHHHHHHA

bought some friday at 326 and moderately tempted to buy a few more

Feliz Navidad y prospero ano .

Should be Happy Honica for Cynic

Jewish National Song

Cynic sing a long

       MIDDAY MARKET REPORT

BP was the blue chip leader at midday following reports of that the troubled oil producer it is seeking Middle East investment to stave off bid interest from rivals, offsetting news that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill costs have now hit $3.12bn. BP shares added 10.1p at 332.1p.

clubby - get it at least reasonably correct! - Chanukah
haven't listened, but if hava nagilah, that is a very recent compositon

Sorry Cynic I do not speak Jewish, only English, Thai, Spanish

jewish ain't a language! ..... yiddish and its variations are really just platt deutsch

Go BP my son Clubbie went long Friday

July 5, 2010
Latest news regarding the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is that one of two relief wells being drilled to stop the oil spill is only days away from completion, although BP only has one shot at this latest attempt to stop the leak.

Latest news regarding the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is that one of two relief wells being drilled to stop the oil spill is only days away from completion, although BP only has one shot at this latest attempt to stop the leak.

The first of two relief wells is within striking distance of the Macondo, about four and a half metres away from the pipe, although one wrong move as engineers break through the cement and steel pipe of the well could increase the torrent of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

In the worst case scenario, it could even trigger a blow out in the relief well, but experts agree the chances of such a disaster are remote.

They pretty much have one shot, said Wayne Pennington, the chair of geophysical engineering at Michigan Tech University. Once they hit it and they try to kill it they really just have that one chance.

It may take as few as a couple of hours or as many as five days to decide if the effort is a success or failure.

BP executives and the leading government official for oil spill response say they are confident the DDIII rig will successfully drill through its target, the blown out Macondo well, creating the relief well intended to be the ultimate solution for stopping an oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico that has persisted for 76 days so far.

There is a chance, a slight chance that they could nick the wellbore, Thad Allen, the coast guard commander, said. A nick risks starting a new small leak or possibly even a collapse of a section of the pipe given that it was damaged in the explosion in ways still not fully understood.

The relief well has bored 3.8 km beneath the seabed and BPs plan calls for the relief well to drill further down, parallel to the blown out well, and intercept it at the bottom.

Once intercepted, BP intends to pump in heavy drilling fluid to stop the oil flow and then cement to plug the leak.

We cant guarantee anything, but I think the technology is there, said Kent Wells, a BP vice president. Weve got the best experienced people around and were set up to be successful here.

If all goes according to plan, operators will install a cement plug, sealing off the oil well for good. If there are further problems, or worse, if this attempt fails and actually increases the oil spill rate then expect hell to break loose

And a bit of bullshit

BP shares rise on 'white knight' rumours

BP shares jumped more than 15p this morning after newspaper reports that it intended to seek a 'white knight' to take a strategic investment in the embattled oil giant as a way of warding off unwanted bid offers from rival oil groups.

The share price has dived by more than 50% since the Gulf of Mexico crisis and major oil rivals are thought to have been preparing a hostile bid for the Group as soon as oil spill is capped.

Today BP said that the cost of its response to the Gulf of Mexico spill had climbed of $3.12bn.

By early afternoon the shares were 15.9p higher at 337.9p - 4.94% on the day.

Well done to all those brave puntersyou all deserve the praise.

Thank you my boy

from the ft.com ......

Last updated: July 5 2010 18:38

BP is running out of options. With at least a month to go before the relief well to stop the leak in the Gulf of Mexico is completed, and with the cost of the clean-up above $3bn, boosting its balance sheet is more important than ever. If the relief well fails, BP is doomed. But the likelihood of a failure should be remote: relief wells usually work.

That does not lessen BPs strategic dilemma, however. How urgent is its need for cash and how should it be raised? BP has earmarked $10bn of disposals, but these take time. Credit markets put up a keep out sign on June 23, when Fitch Ratings cut BPs credit rating from double A to triple B. One reason for this downgrade was that the balance of costs that BP faces is skewed to the near term. In any case, BPs debt is trading in even more speculative territory, so debt funding is not realistic. The only other option is to raise equity.

BPs market value has collapsed since the Deepwater Horizon accident on April 20. That alone must have strategic investors eyeing its assets. Seeking an investor such as a sovereign wealth fund, along the lines of what Barclays did early in the global financial crisis, is one solution and one that BP can control. Oil-hungry China must be one source perhaps including a long-term supply agreement.

An alternative is to woo a Middle Eastern investor. In spite of their overexposure to oil, they may be persuaded to take advantage of a one-off opportunity. No wonder Libyas senior oil official has hinted at such a move. Since desperate times call for desperate measures, Tony Hayward, BPs chief executive, and Carl-Henric Svanberg, its chairman, need to start thinking the previously unthinkable.

from the ft.com ......

Crisis-hit BP rules out issuing new shares
By Ed Crooks in London, Andrew England in Abu Dhabi and Simeon Kerr in Dubai
Last updated: July 5 2010 20:31

BP is not planning to issue new shares, the company said on Monday, in spite of the pressure on its finances caused by its huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The group has been making overtures to investors in countries where it has good relationships, including the United Arab Emirates, in an attempt to encourage them to buy shares, but the company said that it was not trying to bring in strategic investors with new equity.

Libyas top oil official on Monday said that his countrys sovereign wealth fund should invest in BP to take advantage of the troubled companys falling share price. Shokri Ghanem, chairman of Libyas national oil company, made the comments as BP made contact with Middle Eastern investors.

BP is interesting now with the price lower by half and I still have trust in BP, I will recommend it to the LIA [the Libyan Investment Authority], Mr Ghanem told Dow Jones.

Shares in BP, which have lost almost half their value since its catastrophic explosion and oil spill in late April, closed 3.5 per cent higher at 333.3p in London. The group said on Monday the cost to date of the response to the spill had risen above $3bn.

Mr Ghanems comments came after an official in the Gulf told the Financial Times that BP had already been reaching out to investment entities in the region, particularly those with which it already had relations.

The official said the company was looking for access to capital to make it less vulnerable to competitors and takeover bids.

The message, the official said, was: Our stock is cheap, why not buy some? A senior international banker in the Gulf said there had been signs of interest in BP from investors in the region, but added there is a big difference between interest and writing a cheque.

They might be willing to invest if BP is desperate, but there is a long way to go yet. BP has not mandated advisers to market fundraising yet, the banker added.

The Gulf is home to some of the worlds biggest sovereign wealth funds, which have previously stepped in to inject capital into western banks, including Citigroup and Barclays.

BP has a particularly long history with the UAE, which is home to several government-controlled funds that invest in energy related assets.

These include the International Petroleum Investment Co, which was used as the vehicle for Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabis ruling family, to invest $3.5bn in Barclays, and Mubadala, a state investment company. Abu Dhabi, the UAEs capital, is also home to one of the worlds largest sovereign wealth funds, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which invested $7.5bn in Citigroup in November 2007.

BP is also active in Libya. It won an exploration contract there in 2007. The LIA is seeking to build up its portfolio.

The Qatar Investment Authority has also been one of the more active state investment vehicles in recent months.

Has open well up at 338p and now stand at 348p +14.70p

BP Piles Up Cash in Show of Strength -- By James Herron

BPs embattled Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg and Chief Executive Tony Hayward

The oil leak into the Gulf of Mexico is as bad as ever and may continue for another month, but BP is piling up cash as fast as possible and looks increasingly like it can meet whatever financial demands the cleanup places on it.

Fears last month over whether the spill could push BP into bankruptcy look like little more than irrational panic now.

Back in the first half of June the picture looked very different. BPs shares were in free-falldropping 16% one afternoon in New Yorkthe cost of insuring its debt was ballooning and there were genuine fears that demands for upfront compensation from Congress and the White House could push the company into insolvency.

BPs June 16 deal with the White House to set up an independently-administered $20 billion fund to cover oil spill liabilities extinguished that particular fire and the company has been working hard since then to calm its shaken investors.

Shortly after the deal with the White House was announced, BPs Chief Financial Officer Byron Grote said:

Were taking a very prudent financial position during this period because of the uncertainties. While there is uncertainy out there, the company believes its prudent to continue to bolster its balance sheet to be able to address any uncertainties that might exist in the future.

BP has gone a long way towards that goal.

The company had a prior $5.25 billion credit line available with a number of banks and, in a show of support since the oil spill, eight or nine banks have offered additional standby credit lines totaling $9 billion. Add that to the $5 billion in cash BP already had on its balance sheet in early June, the $2.6 billion BP saved by canceling its first quarter dividend and another $2 billion loan secured against its stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft and BP already has war chest exceeding the size of the compensation fund.

BPs plan to sell $10 billion of assets to boost its balance sheet could pay off quickly if reports are correct that China National Offshore Oil Company could buy BPs stake in Pan American Energy for around $9 billion within weeks.

There may be further sources of cash, should BP need it. The companys gearing is at the bottom of its 20% to 30% target range, although borrowing would probably be an expensive last resort following recent downgrades to its credit rating from Fitch and Moodys.

There are also reports that a number of sovereign wealth funds from the Middle East are ready to pump billions in fresh equity into BP, although its hard to see such a dilution going down well with existing BP investors.

And despite BPs severe problems in the U.S., the vast bulk of its global operations continue as normal, generating around $30 billion a year in free cash flow.

The Head of Libyas National Oil Company, Shokri Ghanem, certainly gave a vote of confidence in BPs ability to survive the current crisis. I still have trust in BPIts a good opportunity for bargain hunters, he said, adding that he will recommend buying a stake in BP to the Libyan sovereign wealth fund.

So BP will live to fight another day, but its bosses may not. The need to restore the companys image and rebuild relations with the authorities in the U.S. make it increasingly likely that one or both of BPs public faces during the crisisChief Executive Tony Hayward and Chairman Carl-Henric Svanbergwill have to take one for the team.

Sources said that BP is considering selling some of its non-core assets in Colombia, Venezuela and Vietnam. This could be in addition to the possible sale of its $9bn stake in PanAmerica, for which the China National Oil Corporation may bid.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7873702/Libya-eyes-stake-in-bargain-BP.html

AFTER TODAY'S RISE comments of RBS upgrading to BUY with valuation of 455p.........

Shares in embattled oil major BP BP.L rise 3.2 percent to be among the top FTSE 100 .FTSE risers, after RBS upgrades its recommendation to "buy" from "hold" citing valuation grounds.

Traders also cite comments made on Monday by Shokri Ghanem, chairman of Libya's National Oil Corporation, who said in a telephone interview: "I think that BP shares are good value for bargain hunters."

The comments followed weekend newspaper reports that BP would seek a strategic investor to ward off takeover bids while the company's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico spread.

RBS says BP shares have fallen 100 pence per share more than its base case scenario -- which implies direct costs connected with the incident, including negligent and non-negligent, of $67 billion or 235 pence per share.

BP's value has almost halved since oil began pouring into the Gulf of Mexico in late April, with its shares trading at around 340 pence.

RBS resets its target price to 455 pence from 595 pence given the share price fall, saying "catalysts for share performance are particularly evident in this case," adding it expects the first relief well to intersect the Macondo bore by mid-July, and "we believe this will be a turning point for BP's share."