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.

a bit long .....

BP Plc said it will begin pressure tests at its undersea oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico Tuesday afternoon after it placed a new containment cap and seal on the wellhead late Monday, the top official overseeing the spill said.

Retired U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said BP will first shut down two oil-capture vessels and shut three escape routes for crude on the new stack as well as a hydraulic valve inside of it so the test can start.

If the well can sustain up to 9,000 pounds per square inch of pressure for the first six hours of the 48-hour test, the cap could shut off all flow until a relief well kills the leak by mid-August, Allen said.

But if pressures linger for the first six hours at 6,000 psi or less, "we'll know we can't sustain that in the long run," he said.

Either way, BP will have a four-vessel oil-capture system in place by mid-July that can handle up to 80,000 barrels a day, he said. If the cap can shut off all flow, the vessels will be in place as a backup, Allen said.

From the Telegraph (tomorrow's )

BP on brink of capping Gulf of Mexico leak
BP has begun crucial pressure testing on its leaking Gulf of Mexico well, as it makes a bid to capture all the remaining oil gushing into the ocean.

Steven Chu, the US Energy Secretary, was on Tuesday supervising the key operation, which involved BP fitting a tight cap over the well. The energy giant's share price rose 3pc to 410.35p on hopes the flow of oil will soon halt completely.

BP's market value fell from 123bn to 56bn after the accident on April 20 that killed 11 men and triggered the leak. It has since bounced back up to 77bn or about 40pc on takeover speculation, talk of investment from the Middle East and on hopes that the leak will be stopped.

BP builds defence in takeover threat Meanwhile, it emerged that Abu Dhabi is still considering whether to invest in BP in a move that could put a firmer backstop on the company's share price.

"We are still thinking about it," Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan told Bloomberg News. "We are looking across the board. We have been partners with BP for years."

The developments come as 18 oil and gas companies, including BP, prepare to defend their offshore drilling in Europe at high-level meetings in Brussels on Wednesday.

Gther Oettinger, the European Union energy commissioner, last week called for a ban on new deepwater projects in the North Sea and other oil-rich areas until the triggers of BP's accident are definitely known.

"This can mean de facto a moratorium on new drills until the causes of the accident are known and corrective measures are taken for such frontier operations as the ones carried out by the Deepwater Horizon," he said.

Any strict ban from Europe could signal an end to North Sea oil explorers drilling west of the Shetland Islands. Oil and gas companies will argue at the meeting that these projects are not nearly so deep and ambitious as BP's wells in the Gulf of Mexico.

Norway has instituted a ban on new deepwater drilling until safety reports into the Deepwater Horizon are published, but Britain has decided that its current regulations are adequate.

A spokesman for the International Association of Oil & Gas producers, which will lead the talks on behalf of the industry, said its key message will be that the energy sector is prepared to learn the lessons of Deepwater Horizon once investigations into the accident are complete.

Energy companies have been summoned to see four EU officials Mr Oettinger, Janez Potocnik, commissioner for the environment, Kristalina Georgieva, commissioner for crisis response, and Maria Damanaki, commissioner for maritime affairs as Europe begins belatedly to react to the biggest spill in US history.

Mr Oettinger is also considering asking member states for their right to approve new drilling, taking central supervisory control through Europe.

Separately, BP plans to sell some of its pipeline and oil storage assets for $289m (191m).

Magellan Midstream Partners said it will buy the North American infrastructure assets, including storage for 8m barrels of crude and 100 miles of pipeline.

late last night in NY .....

The British energy giant and U.S. authorities said they were postponing the test that had been scheduled for Tuesday to establish whether the well can withstand the pressure caused by closing the cap at the wellhead.

"We decided that the process may benefit from additional analysis that will be performed tonight and tomorrow," retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who is overseeing the U.S. response to the spill, said in a statement.

The tests, due to last between six and 48 hours, had been scheduled for late Tuesday on BP's newly installed "capping stack," which has a better seal than the last cap placed on the well and aims to stop oil from spewing out of the failed blowout preventer.

Neither the coast guard nor BP gave any indication about when the tests might now begin.

Integrity tests delayed again -- should start by 04:00 BST 14th July.


Subsea operational update:

The well integrity test has not commenced at this time.
Ramping up of the Helix Producer continues.

For the first 12 hours on July 13 (midnight to noon), approximately 4,090 barrels of oil were collected and approximately 3,885 barrels of oil and 14.5 million cubic feet of natural gas were flared.

The next update will be provided at 9:00am CDT on July 14, 2010.


Updated July 13 at 6:30pm CDT

Lets see what effect it has

edited moneyam

A source informed about BP operations told CNN's John King that, ...............
"There were some potential complications that might cause a delay -- some bad, some in the better to be safe than sorry category."

"some bad"??

Whats the ticker code for BP?...when I put BP in, my HSBC trading account doesn't recognise it!

BP.

Ah My chance to call you a thicko chav......BP.

LOL...thanks guys ...your right there BB...I didn't put in the dot!

Normally good with dots as well!

Just got myself a few...lets hope they plug it!

BP shares fall back

BP shares fell back in morning trading as some investors took profits after two days of significant rises in the share price.

The increases had been triggered by hopes that BP may be close to stopping the flow of oil from its well in the Gulf of Mexico.

Earlier today BP said that it had delayed a key test on its newly installed cap while further analysis was carried out.

BP setback knocks shares
Fiona Bond - 14.07.10 - 11:38

Embattled oil major BP's (BP-) latest attempts at halting its catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill have suffered a setback, sending its share price lower for the first time this week.

Testing on the new well sealing cap has been temporarily suspended while the US government and BP accident managers carry out further checks on the operation.

The British oil major has not given a reason for the delay, which comes less than 48 hours after the new cap was installed, nor has it set a new date for the testing process.

Meanwhile, oil continues to gush into the Gulf.

Shares in the group dipped 1.5%, after climbing as high as 9% at the start of the week, as investors grew nervous about the latest hold up.

The FTSE 100 (UKX) giant, which has been battling the disaster for close to three months, had pinned its hopes on the latest seal as a temporary stop to the oil leak and had planned to start shutting off valves on the cap on Tuesday.

The series of tests, which were due to last anything between six and 48 hours, were to check the integrity of the well to ensure that high pressure levels would not create additional leaks.

In a statement on Tuesday morning, the group had taken an upbeat tone with the expectation that "no oil will be released to the ocean for the duration of the test."

However, it remained unclear as to whether the company discovered something untoward in the mapping results, about which vice president Kent Wells had previously said he felt "comfortable" they would turn out well.

A meeting was held between BP officials, scientists and government personnel following the results of the mapping survey.

National Incident Commander Thad Allan said in a statement: "As a result of these discussions, we decided that the process may benefit from additional analysis," before adding that this work could continue through Wednesday.

It would be the first time the oil major has stopped the flow of oil since the explosion occurred on 20 April.

Meanwhile, drilling on two relief wells continues and is on track to be completed by mid-August.

BP's share price was pegged at 404.20p

BP has delayed a pressure test on the newly installed well cap in the Gulf of Mexico while senators now want the US government to look into the company's activities in Libya.

US senators last night called for a probe into whether BP pressed for the Lockerbie bomber to protect a lucrative deal with Libya.

The Democrats question the circumstances surrounding the release of the convicted bomber, Abdel Baset al-Megrahi and a deal which will see BP begin drilling for oil in the Gulf of Sidra, off Libya.

"Evidence in the Deepwater Horizon disaster seems to suggest that BP would put profit ahead of people," said Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey.

"The question we now have to answer is, was this corporation willing to trade justice in the murder of 270 innocent people for oil profits?" the lawmakers wrote in a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

In a separate letter, Lautengerg wrote: "It is shocking to even contemplate that BP is profiting from the release of a terrorist with the blood of 189 Americans on his hands.

"The families of the victims of PanAm flight 103 deserve to know whether justice took a back seat to commercial interests in this case."

Meanwhile, BP and US officials postponed a 48-hour test to find out if the damaged well can withstand the pressure that would be created by closing the cap at the wellhead. They gave no indication when the test will finally begin.

"We decided that the process may benefit from additional analysis that will be performed [yesterday and today]," said retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who is overseeing the US response to the spill.

Reports yesterday suggested that for a brief period shortly after the new cap was installed oil stopped leaking from the Macondo well, though it resumed soon after through a valve to relieve a pressure build-up.

OPENING AT $36.41 ON THE US FROM $36.88 CLOSE YESTERDAY

you still short hlyeo?

Yes, still shorting, Gausie.



A house committee has passed a bill stopping any company from getting permission to drill for seven years if it has caused more than 10 deaths during operations, while contravening health and safety laws.

BP would be affected because it has already pleaded guilty to criminal charges following an explosion at a refinery in Texas City five years ago.

The company has not yet been convicted on any criminal charges or admitted any criminal liability relating to the Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 men and triggered the worst environmental disaster in US history on April 20 this year.

But the British oil giant is facing a criminal investigation over the accident, which has caused a political furore over its safety record in the US.

The Committee on Natural Resources voted to pass an amendment preventing any company from getting new leases unless they pass environmental requirements, but the laws will not be enacted unless they are approved by the House, Senate and President Barack Obama.

Representative George Miller first tabled the bill around two weeks ago, in an attempt to make sure the US Interior Department recognises companies' safety records when they consider decisions about awarding leases. BP produces a quarter of its oil and gas in the US, and until the accident, it hoped to increase its production through pioneering exploration in the Gulf of Mexico.

"British Petroleum has a flagrant history of taking risks to boost profits that has resulted in deaths of workers, destruction of the environment, and economic chaos in local communities," Mr Miller said at a political hearing.

Meanwhile, BP was under separate pressure from Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, who pledged to look into its involvement in the release of the Lockerbie bomber ahead of the oil giant's planned new drilling in Libya.

It follows a letter from four US senators calling for an investigation into whether BP had a hand in the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi last year on "health grounds".

original a bit long so edited to shorten (others can learn to do the same!) .....

BP Plc was running a crucial test on Thursday ..... began the process on Wednesday night, which could stretch up to 48 hours ...... began the tests after getting the green light from top U.S. government officials who had delayed the plan by 24 hours on concerns the process could irreparably damage the well.

If tests, which will be assessed every six hours, show that closing the cap might cause further damage to the well, the capping device could instead be used as part of a complex system to capture the oil and siphon it to ships on the surface.

.... undersea robots working a mile (1.6 km) below the surface had started shutting a series of three valves designed to ultimately stop the oil flow completely.... Critically, BP has closed the main valve in the middle of the cap, "and we no longer have flow out the top," Wells said.

There are billions of $ in oil in this field, but will BP be allowed to re drill. I bet the Yanks will give it to one of their oil companies with a huge tax for the government.