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?

Cynicvery nicewhat part of Provence?.
My wife insists I dont take the laptopI sneaked the iPhone and managed to have a five minute peek every hour on the hoursad really when you are already in paradisebut we always want more dont we?luck was with me this timeso she took an interestit is surprising how interested women get when the signs are about
Safe journey mate

Roussillon .... it's sort of Gordes / St Remy area .... i have laptop to stay in touch with the office as much as anything else .... thanks tabby and try not to be too much of a knobhead while i can't keep my eye on you!

markets looking very scary indeed .... glad i bit a lot of bullets this morning, so am relatively liquid ..... BP showing amazing resilience, but am happy to have banked that profit

BB / Clubby - i actually have to stop myself buying more wine; i am very lucky to have acquired a very good cellar over the years, and am now struggling to get through it all!

just as a marker - ADRs currently $29.78

Cynic very nicei need a holiday?... .....I cant guarantee the knobhead bitbut I will try Dad

Seems like new cap has developed a leak as reported on BBC this morning.

From the BBC @ 11:02

"BP said that the leak in what is known as the choke line could be repaired and that its effort to close the damaged well, and shut down the flow of oil permanently, would resume. But video streams from the seafloor showed a chaotic plume of oil and gas continuing to surge from one of the outlets on the 75-ton cap installed earlier this week.
NHIt was unclear late Wednesday whether the leak would be a momentary hitch in the much-anticipated "integrity test" on the well, or if it would put the operation in grave peril. But the plumbing failure showed once again that nothing has come easy in the long campaign to kill the Macondo well, which blew out April 20 and destroyed the Deepwater Horizon rig, killing 11 workers. "

BP says oil has stopped leaking from Gulf well

BP says it has temporarily stopped oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico from its leaking well.

It is the first time the flow has stopped since an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig on 20 April.

The well has been sealed with a cap as part of a test of its integrity that could last up to 48 hours.

The way I read this, this is the beginning of the end - BP has stuck with this leaker and soon enough they should be pumping oil. I've not read much/heard about hurricanes, so perhaps BP is ahead of the Season - that is good news. The shares are only up a little (just over 4), so I'm guessing the market-players are not about to bet on things getting worse.

Of course there is the issue of the MGrahee (prisoner) transfer, but in reality the evidence against him was poor - was he really acting alone? Sure he's not died as soon as expected, but the reason for the transfer was to make sure he didn't die in UK-hands . . . . . at least this way the World has forgotten if not forgiven. The US politicos seem rather too keen to rake over this incidence, forgetting that the reason for the boming (ie in the first place) was a political act against the US - because of their prior political interference....so even if BP was remotely involved it's pretty much way-down the line of reasons.
If raking-over is the Order of the Day, maybe Britain should be asking about the "Implied Oil" connection with that Iraq invasion....for I don't remember BP. being involved as a "mover", whereas it was the first time I recall the name Haliburton being mentioned.... Must have been a bad rumour, perish the thought.

BP. still has a lot of political-repairing to do in the Gulf - and I suspect the sp will stay about the 4-5 range until the US Authorities stop bashing ........ let's hope Tony Haywood is moved a long way away.... + how did he get the job in the first place? Resume dividends about the time of the Olympics maybe?

UPDATE ON GULF OF MEXICO OIL SPILL


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

BP continues to work cooperatively with the guidance and approval of the
National Incident Commander and the leadership and direction of federal
government including the Department of Energy, Department of the Interior,
Federal Science Team, Bureau of Ocean Energy, Management, Regulation and
Enforcement, U.S. Coast Guard and secretaries Ken Salazar and Steven Chu. At
this time, the well integrity test on the MC252 exploratory well continues.

During the test, the three ram capping stack has been closed, shutting in the
well. All sub-sea containment systems (namely, the Q4000 and Helix Producer
systems) have been temporarily suspended.

The pressure inside the well recently has been measured at approximately 6,792
pounds per square inch and continues to rise slowly. As directed by the National
Incident Commander, extensive monitoring activities are being carried out around
the well site. Information gathered during the test is being reviewed with the
government agencies, including the Federal Science Team, to determine next
steps. Depending upon the results of the test and monitoring activities, these
steps may include extending the well integrity test or returning to containment
options.

Should the test conclude, the Q4000 is expected to resume capturing and flaring
oil and gas through the existing system. It has been capturing and flaring an
average of 8,000 barrels a day (b/d) of oil in recent weeks. The Helix Producer
also is expected to be available to resume capturing oil and flaring gas through
the recently installed floating riser system. It has the capacity to capture
approximately 20,000 - 25,000 b/d of oil.

Plans continue for additional containment capacity and flexibility that are
expected to ultimately increase recoverable oil volumes to 60,000-80,000 b/d.

The sealing cap system and many of the other containment systems have never
before been deployed at these depths or under these conditions, and their
efficiency and ability to contain or flare the oil and gas cannot be assured.

To date, the total volume of oil collected or flared by the containment systems
is approximately 826,800 barrels. Information on the subsea operational status
is updated daily on BP's website, www.bp.com.

Work on the first relief well, which started May 2, continues. The well reached
a depth of 17,864 feet as of July 18th and the next scheduled operation is to
carry out a ranging run. The first relief well has approached its last casing
end point and, following the casing set, additional ranging runs will be used to
guide the drill bit to a MC252 well intercept point. After interception,
operations are expected to begin to kill the flow of oil and gas from the
reservoir by pumping specialized heavy fluids down the relief well.

The second relief well, which started May 16, is at a measured depth of 15,874
feet and has been temporarily halted so as not to interfere with the ranging
runs being performed in the first relief well.

Although uncertainty remains, the first half of August remains the current
estimate of the most likely date by which the first relief well will be
completed and kill operations performed.

Surface Spill Response as of July 17

Work continues to collect and disperse oil that has reached the surface of the
sea, to protect the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico, and to collect and clean up
any oil that has reached shore.

Approximately 43,100 personnel, more than 6,470 vessels and dozens of aircraft
are engaged in the response effort.

Operations to skim oil continued over the weekend. These operations have
recovered, in total, approximately 807,143 barrels (33.9 million gallons) of
oily liquid. In addition, a total of 408 controlled burns have been carried out
to date, removing an estimated 261,904 barrels of oil (11 million gallons) from
the sea's surface.

The total length of containment boom deployed as part of efforts to prevent oil
from reaching the coast is now almost 3.36 million feet (681.8 miles).

Additional information

To date, almost 116,000 claims have been submitted and more than 67,500 payments
have been made, totalling $207 million.

The cost of the response to date amounts to approximately $3.95 billion,
including the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling,
grants to the Gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs. On June 16, BP
announced an agreed package of measures, including the creation of a $20 billion
fund to satisfy certain obligations arising from the oil and gas spill. It is
too early to quantify other potential costs and liabilities associated with the
incident.

BP: Signs New Deal To Develop Deep Water Gas Find In Egypt

Today : Monday 19 July 2010
BP PLC (Bp) said Monday it has signed a new agreement in Egypt to develop significant gas resources in two deep water blocks--a badly needed vote of confidence in the U.K. company whose reputation has been damaged by the deep water oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

"Production from the West Nile Delta development is projected to reach up to 1 billion cubic feet per day, providing a major new source of gas for the domestic market in Egypt," said BP in a statement. BP will use subsea infrastructure and a new purpose-built onshore gas plant on Egypt's Mediterranean coast to develop the fields, BP said. First gas is expected in late 2014.

"BP and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation have a long-standing and successful partnership, and the agreement we signed today takes that to a new level in developing these deep-water resources, as well as creating an important source of future growth for BP," said BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward.

The oil and gas exploration arm of German utility RWE AG (RWE.XE) has a minority share in the development.

Nice to read good news, Skinny, Gas in Egypt......yet today BP's sp is driven by US-attitudes and Gulf leak in particular. Maybe another Buying Opp...?
Seems the "cap" may be creating sub-sea pressure which could leak through the surface rocks.....well, that's hardly surprising since even "solid rock" has fissures - it's about time the US allowed BP to pump the oil ashore, then the well-head pressure will be significantly lower....reducing the chances of side-leaks.

This disaster has highlighted the problems of drilling - I suspect that many other drillings are closer to similar leaks than many (in the Industry) will admit. The only time it will become an issue is when things go wrong.

((The news you highlight demonstrates how wide is the investment in BP Worldwide. I just hope they step back from US interests at least until BO has moved aside maybe as far away as 2018.....))

I hold a few + topped-up, nearish the dip.
There is NO dividend anticipated.

Halliburton CEO: Sees 'New Regulatory Climate' In US Gulf
BP (LSE:BP.)
Intraday Stock Chart
Today : Monday 19 July 2010
The federal moratorium on deepwater drilling will usher in a "new regulatory climate" in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and shift investment in oil and gas exploration to onshore and international opportunities, Dave Lesar, chief executive of Halliburton Co. (HAL), said Monday.

"Gulf activity may also remain restrained after the drilling suspension as operators need to adjust to more stringent drilling and permitting requirements," Lesar said during a conference call to discuss the company's second-quarter earnings.

The oil field services provider has begun moving some equipment abroad and deploying some of its workers in the U.S. Gulf to its onshore operations. However the company is planning on keeping much of its infrastructure in the Gulf intact for when activity picks up again.

The executive noted that some international drilling projects are experiencing short-term delays because its customers are re-examining their processes since the Bp PLC (BP, BP.LN) oil spill.

The deepwater drilling suspension is expected to have a negative impact of 5 to 8 cents on Halliburton's earnings per quarter for the rest of 2010.

BP Mulling New Method To Kill Macondo Well


Today : Tuesday 20 July 2010
BP PLC (Bp, BP.LN) is studying the possibility of plugging a deep-water spill in the U.S. Gulf by injecting drilling mud from the surface into the mouth of the leaking well, a company executive said Monday.

The method, to be studied in the next two days, could permanently stop one of the worst oil spills in U.S. history faster than doing so via a relief well that's scheduled to flood the leaking Macondo well with cement by mid-August, and the company will be making a decision about pursuing the option "over the next couple of days," said Kent Wells, a senior vice president for BP.

The so-called "static kill" operation, which involves pumping heavy drilling mud into the Macondo well, is reminiscent of the "top kill" effort that failed last May. But now that BP has shut in the spill using a new containment system, it can pump mud at a low rate and keep it at low pressure, Wells said. The fact that the reservoir has lower pressure than at the time of the "top kill" may also make a new attempt possible, he said.

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen alluded to the static kill in a letter sent to BP Managing Director Robert Dudley, telling BP that the drilling of a relief well--long perceived to be the ultimate solution to the Deepwater Horizon spill--should be its priority. At a teleconference Monday, Wells said that the company still intends to drill the relief well even if it proceeds with the static kill option, to confirm that the leaking well is dead. The first of two relief wells is currently "looking directly" at the Macondo well, and will be able to intersect it at the end of July, he said.

Wells's comments highlight the perception that the Deepwater Horizon gusher, which has spewed millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico since April, may be close to an end. The oil flow has been shut in since BP installed a new containment cap on Thursday. That development, however, is accompanied by concern among U.S. officials about the integrity of the Macondo well and the possibility that if the well is damaged, oil and gas might seep from the neighboring sea floor.

Wells said that sonar and seismic analysis hasn't picked up any anomalies in the well, and the fact that pressure keeps rising--albeit slowly--is a sign that the well could be in good shape. Pressure readings are currently at 6,811 pounds per square inch, and rising at 1 psi per hour, Wells said. Allen has said that the lower-than-expected pressure could be a sign of reservoir depletion, but could also indicate damage to the well.

Oil-spill responders detected leaks around the cap and about 3 kilometers away from the well. The leak around the cap may not be "significant," although it is causing a formation of hydrates, crystal-like compounds that indicate the presence of hydrocarbons. The sea-floor leak, discovered during seismic testing and sonar analysis, is believed to be unrelated to the well cap, Allen said.

Spill responders had originally planned on testing the cap and the well's integrity for a 48-hour period, which was to end Saturday. But the period has been extended in 24-hour increments at least until Tuesday afternoon. Tests to see if the cap can remain on the well are ongoing, Allen said. He said he and other responders are running down anomalies found during analysis but so far none of them appear to be serious enough to force BP to open the cap and move to a different containment option. BP has been working for 13 weeks to contain the gusher, which at one point was spewing up to 60,000 barrels of oil a day into the Gulf.

BP: Won't Release Findings Of Oil Spill Probe Next Week


Today : Tuesday 20 July 2010
BP PLC (Bp) won't release next week preliminary findings from its internal investigation into the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that triggered the three-month-long oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico, a spokesman for the company said Tuesday.

BP will publish its second-quarter results next Tuesday and analysts expect the company to address many of their concerns about how much the spill will cost BP and how it will pay for it.

Press reports also suggested that BP would release preliminary results from its investigation into the causes of the accident, but BP hasn't publicly confirmed this.

BP expects its investigation to conclude in September or October, the spokesman said.

Federal authorities investigating the spill are focusing on bad decisions, missed warnings and worker disagreements in the hours before the blast. In particular, the panel is examining why rig workers missed telltale signs that the well was close to an uncontrolled blowout, according to an internal document assembled by the investigators.

EARNINGS PREVIEW: BP's Woes Set To Dominate UK Oil Sector 2Q

Today : Tuesday 20 July 2010
TAKING THE PULSE: Second quarter earnings in the U.K. oil sector will unsurprisingly be dominated by news about Bp PLC's (BP) continuing response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Although the company has, at least temporarily, capped the leaking well, many questions remain about how it will meet future costs from the spill, which assets it will sell to raise cash and how the disaster will affect BP's strategy in the long term.

Analysts will also be looking to Bg Group PLC (Bg.LN) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) for an indication of how changes in oil industry regulation in the wake of the spill might affect them. Both BG Group and Shell have large exposure to deep water oil drilling.

COMPANIES TO WATCH:

BP PLC (BP) -- July 27

MARKET EXPECTATIONS: BP's underlying earnings are expected to be strong, rising between 70% and 80% from year-ago levels. Although the market may take some comfort in BP's profits and strong cash flow, investors will really want to see greater clarity on the likely cost of the Gulf oil spill, how BP will pay it and when dividend payments might resume. Credit Suisse estimates that BP will book $2.8 billion of spill related costs in the quarter. NCB Stockbrokers analyst Peter Hutton said BP may make provisions for known future liabilities, bringing the total spill cost booked to $4.6 billion and wiping out the bulk of BP's operating profit.

MAIN FOCUS: "We expect that BP will want to communicate strong messages about its balance sheet," said Hutton. BP's operating cash flow, its debt level and its access to short-term liquidity will be heavily scrutinized. BP may be asked for the first time to put a number on likely oil spill liabilities. The market will also be looking for clues about BP's plans to divest $10 billion of assets, although analysts and people familiar with the sale process said it may be too much to expect a firm deal to be announced so quickly.

BG Group PLC (BG.LN) -- July 28

MARKET EXPECTATIONS: Continuing weakness in natural gas markets is expected to hit BG's all-important liquefied natural gas business, where earnings are seen flat or down slightly on a year ago. Citigroup sees BG's net profit rising just 10% year-on-year, mostly due to gas prices but also due to heavy field maintenance.

MAIN FOCUS: Tremendous uncertainty still hangs over BG Group's operations in Kazakhstan. The company is facing numerous allegations, both criminal and regulatory, which analyst say are linked to the Kazakh state oil company's desire to take a stake in the Karachaganak project. BG has not faced any new charges recently, but Chevron Corp. (CVX), which operates the Tengiz project, recently came under similar attack.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) -- July 29

MARKET EXPECTATIONS: Shell's oil and gas output is expected to be higher than a year ago due to the startup of the Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas project and improved security in Nigeria. This improvement, combined with higher oil prices and better refining margins, should boost Shell's adjusted earnings by around a quarter compared with a year earlier, analysts said. "We expect a competent if unspectacular set of results from Shell," said Hutton.

MAIN FOCUS: Analysts will be looking for signs that delivery of Shell's major gas projects in Qatar remain on track for the end of this year and early next year. An update on Shell's drilling plans offshore Alaska, which have been pushed back to 2011 in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico spill, would also be welcomed.

BP: To Sell Oil,Gas Production, Exploration Assets In Pakistan


Today : Tuesday 20 July 2010
BP PLC (Bp) plans to sell its oil and gas production assets and exploration licenses in Pakistan as part of a divestment process aimed at raising $10 billion to cover the cost of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a company spokesman said Tuesday.

Pakistan is not a core area for BP. Its assets there produced 173 million cubic feet of gas a day in 2009, 2% of the company's total natural gas output.

All of BP's Pakistan oil and gas production operations are based in the Sindh province. It also has significant offshore acreage for hydrocarbon exploration.

Things getting interesting.

Lawmakers Clash Over Responsibility for BP Spill

Officials who regulated offshore oil and gas drilling starting with the Bush administration on Tuesday defended their oversight of the industry during the first congressional probe of the government's actions in the period before the Bp Plc (BP, BP.LN) oil spill.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing yielded new finger-pointing, with Democrats leveling some of their harshest questions at former Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who served in the Bush administration. But Interior Secretary Ken Salazar also took some blame from members of his own party, as Republicans noted that the BP disaster occurred on his watch.

"The Department of Interior under both President Bush and President Obama made serious mistakes," said Rep. Henry Waxman (D, Calif.) the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, at a hearing. "The cop on the beat was off duty for nearly a decade, and this gave rise to a dangerous culture of permissiveness."

Interior Secretary: US Could Have Done More On Offshore Safety

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Tuesday came close to accepting some responsibility for the Bp PLC (BP, BP.LN) oil spill, telling a U.S. House panel that government could have done more to ensure safety.

"Prior administrations and this administration have not done as much as we could have done relative to making sure that there was safer production in the outercontinental shelf," Salazar told a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee. Officials "were lulled into a sense of safety," he said.

The uproar over the blown-out well, which has stopped gushing oil due to the installation of a new cap, has prompted the Interior Department to ban deepwater drilling until Nov. 30 as it puts together new safety policies. The department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has also imposed new regulations on drilling in shallow waters, including requiring an analysis of risks and worst-case scenarios.

The Obama administration's approach to offshore drilling has been in the spotlight because the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig occurred less than one month after the Obama administration announced plans to expand offshore-drilling as part of an effort to build goodwill among Republicans at a time when the White House wanted Congress to pass energy and climate legislation. By May 27, President Barack Obama had reversed course and halted the development of exploratory wells in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

India Oil Minister: Interested In Buying BP Assets In Vietnam

Today : Wednesday 21 July 2010
India is interested in buying Bp PLC (BP) assets in Vietnam, Oil Minister Murli Deora told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday.

"We are trying," Deora said over the telephone from Vietnam. He didn't elaborate.

BP said Tuesday it has agreed to sell assets in the U.S., Canada and Egypt to Apache Corp. (APA) for a total of $7 billion. It also said it plans to sell its gas fields and a pipeline in Vietnam, as well as exploration licenses in Pakistan.

Deora is in Vietnam for a meeting of east Asia energy ministers.