Bp Share Discussion Threads

[sarkasm] 17/1/2018 18:54

Shell and BP to Buy Libyan Oil as Country Recovers
By Salma El Wardany
and Laura Hurst
17 janvier 2018 à 19:04 UTC+1

Term contract for Shell is its first in Libya since 2013
BP is also said to agree to deal with Libyan oil for this year

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc agreed annual deals to buy Libyan crude, underscoring how the North African country’s recovering production and improving security are enticing some of the world’s largest oil companies.

[tradejunkie2] 17/1/2018 00:08

Hellscream, try some pedigree chum very tasty.

[hellscream] 16/1/2018 12:17

just doing the same thing for the last 8 years, every time it hits £5, £4.50 is calling.

[la forge] 16/1/2018 08:49

LONDON (Alliance News) - Oil major BP PLC said on Tuesday the court supervised settlement programme related to the Deepwater Horizon class action is now "winding down", and it will book a USD1.7 billion fourth-quarter charge related to the spill.

BP said it now expects to take a non-operating charge after tax of around USD1.7 billion in its fourth-quarter 2017 results for the remaining business economic loss and other claims associated with the settlement programme. This cash impact, it said, will be spread over a "multi-year" period.

The increased charge, BP said, comes from "significantly" higher claims issued by the programme in the fourth quarter and the effect of the US Fifth Circuit's ruling in May on the matching of revenue with expenses when evaluating claims.

Cash payments related to Deepwater Horizon, BP's drilling rig which exploded in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, in 2018 are now expected to be around USD3.0 billion compared to previous guidance of just over USD2.0 billion.

BP said it will continue to "vigorously" appeal claims it believes to be non-compensable.

Chief Financial Officer Brian Gilvary said: "With the claims facility's work very nearly done, we now have better visibility into the remaining liability.

"The charge we are taking as a result is fully manageable within our existing financial framework, especially now that we have the company back into balance at USD50 per barrel."

By George Collard; [e-mail]

[alphorn] 16/1/2018 08:15

Good moment to take the charge with the higher oil prices.

"The charge we are taking as a result is fully manageable within our existing financial framework, especially now that we have the company back into balance at $50 per barrel."

[la forge] 16/1/2018 08:14

Shell Takes a Last Exit From Mideast Oil -- WSJ
16/01/2018 8:02am
Dow Jones News

Shell A (LSE:RDSA)
Intraday Stock Chart

Today : Tuesday 16 January 2018
Click Here for more Shell A Charts.

Energy company leaves last Iraqi site but keeps a presence in natural-gas industry

By Sarah Kent and Benoit Faucon

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (January 16, 2018).

LONDON -- Royal Dutch Shell PLC is giving up on its last oil fields in Iraq, leaving the world's second-biggest oil company with a dwindling footprint in the Middle East -- a region it helped build into a petroleum powerhouse.

Shell said Monday it is selling for an undisclosed amount a stake in the West Qurna 1 oil field in Iraq to Japan's Itochu Corp., the latest step in a gradual retreat from the region. The company is also expected to give up its holding in Iraq's Majnoon oil field later this year, though it will retain its natural-gas interests in the country.

Shell's departure from Iraqi oil assets marks one of the final chapters in a slow pullback from the Middle East's vast fields of petroleum. Shell pumped as much as 450,000 barrels of oil in 2003 in the Middle East, and over the past 15 years had operations that produced thousands of barrels of oil daily across six countries in the region. Once it officially leaves Iraq later this year, Shell will have oil assets in Oman that produce about 220,000 barrels a day.

Shell is keeping its considerable natural-gas interests in Middle Eastern countries, including Qatar, Oman, Egypt and Iraq, a strategy it has followed after its $50 billion deal to buy gas giant BG Group PLC in 2016. The deal also brought Shell big business in Brazil's offshore oil fields, where it has centered its oil-production strategy.

"We have definitely not turned our back on the region, far from it," said Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden in November, referring to the Middle East. But he added that projects such as Majnoon "are increasingly less strategic in our portfolio."

The move reflects the waning attraction of the Middle East's once-prized oil reserves, as companies find that the free flow of crude in the region often comes at a political or financial cost. U.S. oil giants Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. have ratcheted up their focus on shale interests on their home turf in recent years, though both retain interests in Iraq.

In addition to the escalating security risks following the Arab Spring, oil contracts offered by Middle Eastern governments often don't have profitable terms, analysts say.

Iraq has some of the toughest terms in the business. Foreign companies are paid fixed fees per barrel of oil pumped, terms that many in the industry say is low.

"The terms are too tight for Shell," said Robin Mills, a former Shell executive involved in the Middle East who is now chief executive of Dubai-based Qamar Energy. For the British-Dutch oil giant, "it isn't worth the trouble."

Shell declined to comment further on its footprint in the Middle East beyond confirming its exit from the West Qurna oil field. The company said it is still working to gain necessary approvals for the sale from the Iraqi government.

Iraqi oil officials didn't respond to requests for comment.

In the past year, Shell has had to contend with delays in Iraq including tardy government payments for pipelines and water-treatment facilities, according to Iraqi officials and contractors.

Much of the Middle East's oil business is off limits to foreign companies, but a handful of countries including Iraq still offer the promise of barrels at relatively low prices. But the crash in oil prices over the last three years has helped lower the costs of production elsewhere in the world, including the U.S., where Shell has earmarked its shale interests as a catalyst for growth.

Shell also has taken a number of steps in recent years that have reduced its presence in the region, passed on opportunities and been forced out by Western sanctions.

Shell walked away from a bid to renew its rights to a massive oil concession in the United Arab Emirates -- a privilege that BP PLC and Total SA paid about $2 billion to keep but both Shell and Exxon didn't. The company stopped producing in both Syria and Iran after 2010 because of sanctions related to the Syrian civil war and Tehran's nuclear program, respectively.

Shell has shown interest in returning to Iran, but it hasn't followed Total in signing a deal to invest in the country. The sanctions risk remains high, and Shell has struggled to find suitable, mainstream banks to enable its Iranian investments, people familiar with the matter say.

Write to Sarah Kent at [e-mail] and Benoit Faucon at [e-mail]



(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 16, 2018 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)

[hellscream] 16/1/2018 07:36

this will go back under £5 again, deep water wont go away.

[abbotslynn] 12/1/2018 22:09

Need to look into the divi's more closely.

[scoobydoo99] 12/1/2018 21:25

$70 Brent breached again, are we finally going to break out of the trading range we've been stuck in for the last 7 years - looking good :)

[optomistic] 11/1/2018 16:38

....Good finish and NYSE AD's still moving up :-)

[optomistic] 11/1/2018 15:07

New York mayor sueing several oil majors, BP inc. for their contribution to global warming and relative cost to the city.
Billions of dollars they are hoping for, just for once would like to see the planks fail in their greed!

[hellscream] 11/1/2018 14:57

why don't the big apple sue india and china for using coal?

[optomistic] 11/1/2018 14:45

BP's Ravenspurn well (85% owned by BP) in the North Sea has been plugged and abandoned.

[alphorn] 11/1/2018 09:38

"A city has never successfully sued a fossil-fuel company for damages for climate change",

Does that mean, if I understand the suit, that they could sue the US government for leaving the Paris climate agreement?

Looks as though it could only happen in the US.

[skinny] 10/1/2018 10:22

Multi year high @531.70p.

[boozey] 10/1/2018 07:20

Oil at $69. What has happened to the Share buyback programme?