Bp Share Discussion Threads

[optomistic] 14/2/2018 15:01

X/div tomorrow

[hellscream] 14/2/2018 14:55

dividend record date today?

[toon1966] 14/2/2018 14:27

US inflation figures came out at 13.30 GMT.

[alphorn] 14/2/2018 14:26

US inflation data.

[fhmktg] 14/2/2018 14:21

What spooked the market at 1.30?

[sarkasm] 14/2/2018 10:43

5 hrs ago
New North Sea boss to lead BP’s push for growth in area
MARK WILLIAMSON
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0 comments

BP has appointed a new boss for its North Sea business as the oil giant underlined its ambition to double production in the area by 2020.

Ariel Flores, a 19-year BP veteran, will succeed Mark Thomas as BP’s Aberdeen-based North Sea Regional President in March after a period managing its interests in Iraq.

Mr Thomas will become joint head of the Group Chief Executive’s Office in London. He has run the North Sea business since 2016.

BP has retrenched in the North Sea under Mr Thomas, selling non-core assets and shedding around 600 jobs in response to the challenges posed by the fall in the crude price since 2014.

However, Mr Thomas said: “I am moving on at a time of positive momentum for BP in the North Sea as we advance towards our target of producing 200,000 barrels a day by 2020.”

Last month BP announced it had made finds off Shetland and Aberdeen in 2017. Led by chief executive Bob Dudley, the firm said the 2017 exploration campaign was its most successful in the North Sea since 2008 when it made the 50 million barrel Kinnoull find.

Mr Flores joined BP in 1999 as an operations engineer in Wyoming in the USA. He has held operational, commercial and leadership roles in America, Russia, Azerbaijan, Angola and the UK.

[andyj] 14/2/2018 00:22

Interesting day ahead. 4.80 providing a ceiling, will 4.70 provide a floor? A drop below would confirm a short term downtrend to 4.40.

[karateboy] 13/2/2018 21:10

What a cheap analysis from Morgan Stanley. They are not happy that BP's priority is to reduce its debt instead of increasing dividend!! Well that is called keeping the business sustainable. Just look at what happened to companies which do not keep control of their debts such as CLLN,.... Morgan Stanley predicts yields will come down. Yes I agree as share price goes up the yields come down from current 6.5% to about 5 %. BP will not reduce the dividend. Amazing that these analysts feel they are more qualified to run a £100b company than the board.!!

[la forge] 13/2/2018 15:18

Alexander Bueso
WebFG News
13 Feb, 2018 15:01 13 Feb, 2018 15:02
Morgan Stanley downgrades BP, cuts target for Shell
bp
BP
476.35
14:58:59 13/02/18
-0.48%
-2.30
Total
45.45
14:58:59 13/02/18
0.44%
0.20
Royal Dutch Shell 'A'
2,295.00
14:58:55 13/02/18
0.44%
10.00
Royal Dutch Shell 'B'
2,315.00
14:59:00 13/02/18
0.43%
10.00
Statoil
173.75
14:58:00 13/02/18
-0.23%
-0.40
FTSE 100
7,174.90
14:58:59 13/02/18
-0.03%
-2.16
CAC 40
5,117.68
14:59:00 13/02/18
-0.42%
-21.50
DJ EURO STOXX 50
3,346.60
14:59:00 13/02/18
-0.63%
-21.13
FTSE 350
3,991.69
14:58:59 13/02/18
-0.06%
-2.27
FTSE All-Share
3,944.26
14:58:59 13/02/18
-0.05%
-2.16

Morgan Stanley downgraded its view on shares of BP by one notch from 'overweight' to 'equalweight', predicting that management would continue to prioritise debt reduction over the dividend payout.

Elsewhere in the sector on the other hand, Total and Statoil had rocked the proverbial boat with their recently announced dividend hikes.

Indeed, it was chiefly due to the above that the broker downgraded BP, as it was limited to two 'overweights' in the sector.

Thus, while the broker's recommendation on Royal Dutch Shell stayed at 'overweight', that on Total was increased from 'equalweight' to 'overweight'.

The decisions from Total and Statoil marked an 'inflection point' for the sector, Morgan Stanley said, adding that it was "reflective of the improvement that insiders were seeing".

Yet while Total's dividend cover-by-free cash flow was seen reaching a "particularly strong" 155% by 2019, in BP's case that ratio was only expected to improve to around 95% in 2018 and then 110% in 2019.

Combined with a less robust balance sheet, that would see management prioritise debt reduction, Morgan Stanley said.

Even so, as confidence grew in its payout, Morgan Stanley expected the shares' dividend yield to fall.

Worth noting, the broker also revised its target prices for all three stocks lower, with BP's falling from 645p to 550p, Total's from €56.0 to €55.6 and Shell's from 3,040p to 2,830p.

The target price cut on Shell was despite the broker's forecasts calling for it to be the next to raise its dividend, with its free cash flow reaching $21bn in 2018 on an oil price of $64 a barrel, rising to $24bn in 2020 at $60 oil, resulting in FCF dividend covers of about 135% and 155% in each of those years.

"If history is any guide, BP's financial outlook is strong enough so that investors do not demand a yield much bigger than ~5.2% [from 6.2% at present], which is our target yield by end-2018. This still suggests a return prospect of ~23% – healthy but less strong that its two direct peers (Total and Shell)."

[grupo] 13/2/2018 14:11

Big Oil sector is rapidly improving, but Shell is preferred over BP - analyst
11:03 13 Feb 2018
As European rivals increase dividend pay-outs, Morgan Stanley is upbeat about Shell but is less so about BP which he has downgraded
BP petrol station
BP is now rated as ‘equal weight’

Never mind the share price performances, the ‘Big Oil’ sector is rapidly seeing better cash generation and reducing debt burdens, says Morgan Stanley analyst, Martijn Rats.

In a note, he highlights that dividend increases in the sector - from Total and Statoil – represents an unexpected but important ‘inflection point’, reflecting the kind of progress seen by industry insiders.
READ: BP has shown best improvement among oil majors - analyst

“Every previous cycle has shown that, in the end, commodity prices and the industry's cost structure find a new equilibrium such that new projects can go ahead again and the majors can maintain their dividends,” the analyst said.

Nonetheless, Rats fancies rivals like Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LON:RDSB) and Total ahead of BP PLC (LON:BP) as the analyst has downgraded the London-listed oil major to ‘equal weight’ from ‘overweight217;.

“We do not expect that BP will keep up with Total and, ultimately, Shell on dividend growth. It drops in our relative preference mostly because Total rises,” he added.
READ: Shell boss Van Beurden boasts of “strong financial performance”

Shell is already rated as ‘overweight217; by Morgan Stanley and it could be the next oil major to increase its dividend, according to Rats, who thinks the bigger pay-out could come “this time next year”.

“Shell benefits from similar industrial fundamentals as Total: a cost base that is reset sharply lower, a healthy pipeline of projects that add cash flow, a strong Downstream segment and a growing Chemicals business,” the analyst said.

“On top, we would argue that Shell stands out with a particularly thoughtful approach to the Energy Transition.”

Statoil is upgraded to ‘equal weight’ following its dividend hike, as Morgan Stanley sees “impressive growth” and as a result the no longer warrants the previous ‘underweight’ rating.

[optomistic] 13/2/2018 10:45

Morgan Stanley...maybe the analyst is looking at a different set of accounts to the rest of us, it is a bit early in the day for the office juniors? they need a couple more cups of coffee yet.

[skinny] 13/2/2018 10:38

Swines!

Morgan Stanley Equal weight 476.48 645.00 550.00 Downgrades

[alphorn] 13/2/2018 09:30

US on track to become world’s largest oil producer. One of its aims I think.

[sarkasm] 12/2/2018 19:55

Alexander Bueso
WebFG News
12 Feb, 2018 19:47 12 Feb, 2018 19:47
SocGen upgrades BP to 'buy'
bp
BP
478.80
16:35:01 12/02/18
1.86%
8.75
FTSE 100
7,177.06
16:35:30 12/02/18
1.19%
84.63
FTSE 350
3,993.96
16:35:30 12/02/18
1.13%
44.75
FTSE All-Share
3,946.42
16:35:30 12/02/18
1.12%
43.57

Analysts at Societe Generale upgraded their recommendation on stock of BP from 'hold' to 'buy', citing fading concerns regarding the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

In parallel, strong growth in volumes, earnings and a seven-fold rise in cash-flows had de-risked the oil major's 2021 cash-flow targets, they said, in turn raising "confidence in its capacity to grow shareholder distribution".

And there was still room for the roughly 6% sustainable dividend yield to grow, they said.

Furthermore, the shares were trading at an approximately 7% discount versus competitor Shell in terms of its EV/DACF multiple, according to SocGen.

"This is a high quality undervalued stock, hit by the oil price correction to $64/bbl, but whose portfolio has been reset for material free cash generation at $55/bbl."

[optomistic] 12/2/2018 16:10

Well done BP.....

BP (NYSE: BP) has begun gas production from the Atoll Phase One project, offshore Egypt, the company said on Feb. 12.

The project, in the North Damietta concession in the East Nile Delta, was delivered seven months ahead of schedule and 33% below the initial cost estimate.

The project is now producing 350 million cubic feet of gas a day and 10,000 barrels a day of condensate. Gas production from the field is directed to Egypt’s national grid.

Atoll is the first new project to come into production for BP in 2018, adding to the series of higher-margin projects successfully brought online over the past few years.

The 13 projects that started-up through 2016 and 2017 provided more than 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boe/d) of new net production capacity and total net production from BP’s new projects is now expected to be 900,000 boe/d by 2021.

“The longstanding partnerships we have in Egypt allowed us to fast-track Atoll’s development and deliver first gas only 33 months after discovery,” Bob Dudley, BP’s group CEO, said.

BP announced the Atoll discovery in March 2015. The main reservoir in the field contains an estimated 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas and 31 million barrels of condensates and further segments are under evaluation.

[fhmktg] 12/2/2018 13:32

Two positive announcements in one day...I could get to like this!

[grupo guitarlumber] 12/2/2018 10:29

BP PLC (BP.LN) said on Monday that an agreement between Mauritania and Senegal, signed on Feb. 10, will enable the development of the Tortue/Ahmeyim gas field, where BP has a majority interest.

The field, which holds an estimated 15 trillion cubic feet of gas, sits offshore on the border between the two African nations.

BP said that the Inter-Government Cooperation Agreement signed by the countries will see a fifty-fifty split of resources and revenues, as well as a mechanism for future equity redeterminations based on actual production and other technical data.

Bernard Looney, BP's upstream Chief Executive, said the agreement was an important milestone for the project.



Write to Oliver Griffin at [e-mail]



(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 12, 2018 04:27 ET (09:27 GMT)

[ianood] 11/2/2018 22:53

Should you so require, you are aware of the "Skip Header" button?

[neilyb675] 11/2/2018 20:06

Thanks sicker what a useless post 👍

[sicker] 11/2/2018 15:12

Seldom look at headers so have no opinion :-(