Bp Share Discussion Threads

[sarkasm] 01/5/2018 14:30

'Complete urban myth' that BP's Dudley was poisoned in a Russian...
52 Mins Ago

Brian Gilvary refutes rumors that BP CEO Bob Dudley was poisoned by Russians in 2008.
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[sarkasm] 01/5/2018 12:33

More in News, Power Plants, Projects, Europe
Northumbrian Water partners Lightsource BP for 10 private wire solar farms

By Liam Stoker May 01, 2018 10:11 AM BST 0

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The 5MW Chittering solar farm developed by Lightsource in Cambridgeshire. Image: Lightsource.

The 5MW Chittering solar farm developed by Lightsource in Cambridgeshire. Image: Lightsource.

UK-based water company Northumbrian Water has turned to renewable energy firm Lightsource BP for the development of 10 ground-mount solar farms to help power its operations.

The arrays are to be built on Northumbrian Water-owned sites and are expected to generate as many as 10GWh of power each year.

They come under a new partnership between the two firms, and Lightsource BP has already started ecological, operational and electrical assessments of the water and sewage works sites that stand to benefit from the projects once complete.

The solar farms will be connected to Northumbrian Water sites via a private wire, with the company intending to break ground on the first of the projects later this year.

Lightsource BP has a history of tailoring solar farm development for commercial entities under power purchase agreements, and has previously catered specifically for energy-intensive industries like water utilities.

In 2016 the firm completed a 6.3MW floating solar array – Europe’s largest at the time – on London’s Queen Elizabeth II reservoir on behalf of Thames Water, a project that eventually went on to win that year’s large-scale PV Solar Power Portal Award, from the sister publication of PV Tech.

Nick Boyle, chief executive at Lightsource, said the projects would provide Northumbrian Water with a “long-term hedging strategy” against price volatility in the energy market.

"Solar is a locally generated, cost-competitive, reliable and clean alternative that will be a good addition to Northumbrian Water's energy mix. We are looking forward to working with the team to deliver these 10 sites in the next year.”

The agreement also follows hot on the news that Northumbrian Water is to power all of its 1,858 sites using renewable power purchased from Ørsted over the next four years.

“We have a genuine desire to work with suppliers who share our passion to deliver excellence across our industry while protecting our planet by reducing our carbon footprint. This project will deliver a great result for our customers, the environment and our business,” Graham Southall, commercial director at Northumbrian Water, said.

Lightsource BP and Indian private equity firm Everstone Group recently formed a fund management platform aimed at investing in green infrastructure in India, with the launch fund targeting £500 million (US$710 million).

[sarkasm] 01/5/2018 11:43

BP's European natural gas price realization jumps to near three-year high

London (Platts)--1 May 2018 626 am EDT/1026 GMT

BP said Tuesday its average realized gas price in Europe jumped to $7.18/Mcf ($7.01/MMBtu) in the first quarter of 2018 -- a near three-year high -- as wholesale prices rallied due to periods of extreme cold weather.

* Highest sales price since Q2 2015 as wholesale prices rise

* European gas realization up 29% on quarter, 33% on year

* BP still suffering from low US realized gas prices

The realized price was up 29% on the previous quarter and 33% year on year, reaching the highest level since the second quarter of 2015.

BP's global realized gas price was also higher at $3.78/Mcf, buoyed by higher sales prices in its rest of the world segment, and despite a slight dip in its US sales price to $2.25/Mcf, the lowest since Q3 2016.

European majors saw a steady improvement in realized gas prices in 2017 as wholesale prices recovered from multi-year lows over the course of 2016.

European gas prices slumped in 2016 and for part of 2017 due to an oversupplied market and relatively mild weather across Europe.

BP's realized European price fell to a multi-year low in Q3 2016 of just $3.94/Mcf -- the equivalent of $3.83/MMBtu.

European gas prices recovered toward the end of 2017 and early 2018 due to market tightness and higher demand.

The average day-ahead price at the UK NBP hub in Q1 was $8.06/MMBtu, according to S&P Global Platts assessments, while the average day-ahead price at the Dutch TTF was slightly lower at $7.69/MMBtu.

US GAS OUTPUT

BP was hit particularly hard by the continued low Henry Hub gas price in the US in the wake of the shale gas boom.

BP has said it could drive forward its US gas business at a sub-$3/MMBtu Henry Hub price, having brought down its operating costs to below the peer average.

BP is more exposed to US gas prices than its European peers given its large portfolio of producing assets in the US.

CFO Brian Gilvary, speaking on a conference call with analysts Tuesday, said BP's portfolio in the US lower 48 was "very gassy" with 85% of its production gas and the remaining 15% liquids.

BP's US gas production in Q1 averaged 1.79 Bcf/d, compared with just 217 MMcf/d in Europe.

The company's total gas output in the period was 7.46 Bcf/d, with the rest of the world accounting for the balance.

Its worldwide gas business is growing quickly with new projects having started up in Oman and Egypt.

Its huge Shah Deniz 2 gas field project in Azerbaijan is also due to begin producing gas in the coming months, Gilvary said.

"Shah Deniz 2 is an incredibly strategic and important project for Europe. It is 99% complete," he said.

--Stuart Elliott, [e-mail]

--Edited by Alisdair Bowles, [e-mail]

[waldron] 01/5/2018 09:53

BP
544.1 +1.13%



Shell A
2,522.5 -0.34%



Shell B
2,594 -0.29%

FTSE 100 7,527.49+0.2%


Brent Crude Oil NYMEX 74.18 -0.66%
Gasoline NYMEX 2.12 -0.55%
Natural Gas NYMEX 2.77 +0.14%

[waldron] 01/5/2018 09:50

LONDON -- Shares in BP PLC rose to the highest level since 2010 on Tuesday as the company's efforts to regain its position among Big Oil's elite showed signs of paying off.

The move came after the London-based company reported its best quarterly profit since mid-2014, boosted by higher oil prices and rising production.

BP's solid first-quarter numbers indicate the company is moving past its fatal blowout and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Shares rose 1% in early trading, touching a high of GBP5.48 -- the highest level since the days after the Deepwater Horizon accident, which spewed oil into the Gulf and resulted in the worst offshore spill in U.S. history.

To pay for cleanup costs and legal fees BP was forced to sell off billions of dollars in assets, dramatically shrinking the size of the company. To date, the spill has cost BP more than $65 billion.

But after agreeing a landmark $20 billion deal to settle all federal and state claims for the accident in 2015, the company felt in a position to invest and grow again. The company has outlined plans to return its oil-and-gas production to 4 million barrels a day, while boosting profits and cash flow.

On Tuesday the company said its replacement cost profit -- a number analogous to the net income that U.S. oil companies report -- was $2.4 billion in the first quarter, compared with $1.4 billion in the same period a year earlier. The last time it reported a profit that big was in the third quarter of 2014.

BP said production rose 6% in the first quarter compared with a year ago as the company continued to deliver on its strategy to return to its former size by the early 2020s.

However, debt levels crept higher as liabilities relating to the disaster continue to weigh on BP's performance. The company paid out $1.6 billion in the first quarter, including the final charge in a 2012 settlement with the Justice Department to resolve all criminal claims. Payments are expected to total just over $3 billion in 2018 and the company faces charges of more than $1 billion a year out past 2030.

BP caps a mixed earnings season for the world's biggest oil companies. Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC posted their best first-quarter profits in years, but investors remained skeptical of companies that failed to meet expectations during three months when oil prices reached their highest level since 2014.

Write to Sarah Kent at [e-mail]



(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 01, 2018 04:32 ET (08:32 GMT)

[skinny] 01/5/2018 07:40

Highlights Momentum continues into 2018 as BP delivers strong 1Q profit

· Underlying replacement cost profit* for the first quarter of 2018 was $2.6 billion, compared with $1.5 billion for the same period in 2017, a rise of 71%.

· Operating cash flow excluding Gulf of Mexico oil spill payments* in the quarter was $5.4 billion including a $1.8 billion negative impact from an increase in working capital ($1.7 billion after adjusting for inventory holding gains) driven by higher oil prices and seasonal inventory builds.

· Upstream reported the strongest quarter since third quarter 2014 on both a replacement cost and underlying basis.

· Reported oil and gas production was 3.7 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in the quarter, 6% higher than the first quarter of 2017. Upstream production, excluding Rosneft, was 9% higher, supported by continued ramp up of major projects*. Upstream plant reliability* was 96% for the quarter.

· First Upstream major project of 2018, Atoll in Egypt, started production; to date in 2018, final investment decisions have been taken on four new projects - in Oman, India and two in the UK North Sea.

· Continued Downstream earnings growth with strong refining availability in the US.

· Gulf of Mexico oil spill payments in the quarter were $1.6 billion on a pre-tax basis, including $1.2 billion for the final payment relating to the 2012 Department of Justice settlement.

· BP continued its share buyback programme in the quarter, buying 18 million shares for a cost of $120 million.

· Dividend unchanged at 10 cents per share.

more.....

[neilyb675] 01/5/2018 07:27

Profits massively up on same quarter last year, divi maintained.

Happy with that.

[gaffer73] 01/5/2018 07:19

Good results but I would have thought they would increase the divi this time.

[steve73] 01/5/2018 04:22

opto... what do you mean "poor showing"..?

It closed at its post-Macondo high... What more do you want..?

Question is will they increase the divi this time around? This will determine todays first-thing moves.

I think they will, bwtfdik.

[waldron] 30/4/2018 17:52

Total
52.33 +0.44%


Engie
14.55 +0.80%

Orange
15.115 +0.53%



FTSE 100
7,509.3 +0.09%
Dow Jones
24,336.51 +0.10%
CAC 40
5,520.5 +0.68%

BP
538 +0.11%




Shell A
2,531 -0.02%


Shell B
2,601.5 +0.21%


Brent Crude Oil NYMEX 74.88 +1.70%
Gasoline NYMEX 2.14 +0.82%
Natural Gas NYMEX 2.74 -0.98%

[optomistic] 30/4/2018 15:33

vnp...If the results aren't good this time it will be very surprising and dissapointing.

[veryniceperson] 30/4/2018 15:29

I'm expecting some good results and a rosey outlook. Everything Crossed.

[optomistic] 30/4/2018 15:22

Poor showing today, especially as the results are tomorrow...looking forward to a good day tomorrow.

[waldron] 30/4/2018 09:13

Total
51.78 -0.61%


Engie
14.445 +0.07%

Orange
15.07 +0.23%

BP
534.3 -0.58%

FTSE 100 7,521.03+0.3%



Shell A
2,520.5 -0.43%



Shell B
2,584.5 -0.44%


Cac 40 Index 5,488.28+0.1%

[maywillow] 29/4/2018 16:57

Sunday 29 April 2018 3:46pm
BP expected to record a surge in first quarter profits on back of rising oil prices
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Alexandra Rogers
I am a reporter at City A.M, covering Transport, Law and White Collar Crime. Em [..] Show more
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BP Filling Station Signage
BP enjoyed one of the strongest years in its history last year (Source: Getty)

BP is expected to be the latest beneficiary of the surge in oil prices, with City analysts expecting first quarter profits to show a healthy year-on-year increase.

The oil giant's full-year results released earlier this year showed the company was already in a strong position, with profits coming in at $6.2bn (£4.4bn).

Boss Bob Dudley called 2017 "one of the strongest years in BP’s recent history" as it recovered from 2010's Deepwater Horizon disaster by bringing $343m of shares back from investors.

First quarter profits, which are due out on Tuesday, are expected to reflect not only the recent rise in oil prices to $75 a barrel, which also boosted Shell's earnings by 67 per cent to $5.9bn, but the strength of BP's upstream and downstream business.

Read more: Shell earnings surge 67 per cent in first quarter results

BP recently opened seven new oil and gas fields which helped boost its oil production levels by 12 per cent. CMC Markets said the six projects BP has in the pipeline in the North Sea, Egypt and Azerbaijan, should further improve its profitability.

The results announcement coincides with the appointment of a new chairman, Helge Lund, last week. Lund masterminded the $70bn sale of BG Group to Royal Dutch Shell and will replace the incumbent board chair Carl-Henric Svanberg on 1 January 2019. Lund will join BP as a non-exec director on 1 September.

Analysts and investors will, however, be watching to see if there will be any further costs relating to the Deepwater oil spill as well as whether BP can capitalise on the benefits of Donald Trump's tax cuts.

A further sticking point is the company's links with Russia, which has left it exposed after the poisoning of Russian Spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in March. BP owns just under 20 per cent of Russia’s Rosneft, and Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital, said Russia could “make life hard for BP if it chooses to”.

CMC Markets said BP's overall debt still remains on the high side at $37.3bn, and needs to come down. ​

[waldron] 27/4/2018 17:25

Total
52.1 +0.37%



Engie
14.435 +0.73%

Orange
15.035 +0.07%


BP
537.4 +0.39%



Shell A
2,531.5 +1.16%



Shell B
2,596 +1.05%


FTSE 100
7,502.21 +1.09%
Dow Jones
24,253.38 -0.28%
CAC 40
5,483.19 +0.54%



Brent Crude Oil NYMEX 73.69 -0.27%
Gasoline NYMEX 2.12 +0.07%
Natural Gas NYMEX 2.77 -1.88%

[ariane] 27/4/2018 14:54

Big Oil Firms Hold Back on Drilling -- Update
27/04/2018 2:31pm
Dow Jones News

Shell A (LSE:RDSA)
Intraday Stock Chart

Today : Friday 27 April 2018
Click Here for more Shell A Charts.

By Bradley Olson and Sarah Kent

The world's biggest oil companies are awash in cash, thanks to rising crude prices. But few, if any, are going on spending sprees, even as the prospect of a global oil shortage looms.

Western energy giants including Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC just posted their best first-quarter profits in years, with most besting a time when crude sold for more than $100 a barrel.

Yet despite a 50% surge in prices since last year, drilling budgets at the largest oil-and-gas companies are up only about 7%, according to consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

Large publicly traded oil companies are moving carefully because they are under pressure from investors after spending heavily over the past decade when prices were higher, only to generate underwhelming returns.

"The newfound religion and confidence in the sector is, to say the least, fragile," said Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden. "We'll need to show a little longer that we actually mean what we say in terms of capital discipline."

By contrast, smaller U.S. shale producers -- especially those backed by private equity -- have seized on the opportunity to ramp up drilling and gain market share.

Two years ago, the top 30 U.S. companies accounted for almost 64% of production. That percentage has fallen to 60% this year, according to consultancy Rystad Energy.

"Big companies are still cutting coupons to show that they can live within their means," said Adam Flikerski, managing partner at BlackGold Capital Management LP, an asset manager that specializes in oil and gas lending. "Like technology companies, the smaller players are still rewarded for growth."

The wary response from the world's biggest producers comes as a global oil glut that has hung over the industry for the past four years finally appears to be withering away. Without stepped-up spending on new oil production, the International Energy Agency warns, the world could flip from abundance to supply crunch by 2020.

A lack of investment is "potentially storing up trouble for the future," the Paris-based agency said last month.

Still, many investors in publicly traded oil and gas producers are pressing executives not to sow the seeds of another price crash with excessive growth. Their apathy about oil's rally has shown.

While the price of Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, is up around 11% this year, a leading barometer of energy stocks, the MSCI World Energy Index, is only up around 4%. A number of companies have performed even worse. Exxon is down 3.9%.

The pace of share buybacks has been a key factor for performance so far. ConocoPhillips shares rose 3% Thursday after the company disclosed it had repurchased about $500 million in stock, as it reported that quarterly profits jumped 52% to $888 million.

Exxon fell 2% Friday in pre-market trading after announcing that it has not yet reinstated its longstanding program for buying back shares. Although the company posted its highest cash flow since 2014, it still fell short of analyst expectations for the second straight quarter. Profits rose 16% to $4.65 billion compared with the first three months of last year.

Shell's U.K. shares on Thursday fell 0.7% after the company missed cash flow expectations and failed to give more clarity on when it would begin buying back $25 billion in stock, as it reported quarterly profits rose by two-thirds to nearly $6 billion.

Chevron's stock rose 1.8% Friday after the company said first-quarter profits were $3.6 billion, up 36% from a year ago.

France's Total SA announced a 3.2% dividend increase Thursday. Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said the company will use the excess cash it rakes in with oil above $70 a barrel to reward shareholders with higher dividends and share buybacks.

"Some of you may be worried about the financial discipline, but I can tell you we keep in mind the discipline," Mr. Pouyanne told analysts.

Combined, profits at Exxon, Chevron, Shell and Total were $16.8 billion, the highest since 2014.

Sanford C. Bernstein expects the world's biggest oil companies to generate record amounts of cash in excess of new investments this year.

The spending constraints aren't so restrictive that the biggest companies are avoiding new developments completely. BP PLC, which reports earnings next week, sanctioned several new projects this month, including the second project in a $6 billion natural gas development in India.

Earlier this week, Shell announced plans for a new deep water project in the Gulf of Mexico. Exxon may take a final investment decision later this year on a new facility to manufacture polypropylene, a widely used form of plastic.

One reason for caution among larger companies is that some analysts, investors and executives still lack faith that crude prices will remain elevated through the end of the year.

"There's potential weakness on the horizon in oil prices," said Tom Ellacott, senior vice president for corporate research at Wood Mackenzie. "It's still quite an uncertain environment."

Smaller U.S. producers are exercising less caution, as many of them still have business models akin to startups'. They must invest in new wells to prove the viability of new prospects.

Those companies are a major reason why forecasters say U.S. oil output may reach 11 million barrels a day by the end of the year, surpassing the output of Saudi Arabia.

In February, companies that aren't among the top U.S. crude producers made up almost half the permits approved for new drilling, according to data and analytics firm DrillingInfo. In the past six months, those operators accounted for about 42% of permits. Permits are generally a useful barometer for future drilling activity.

Many such companies will be affected by shortages in labor and trucking, as well as pipeline bottlenecks in the Permian basin in West Texas and New Mexico, the heart of U.S. drilling activity. Those challenges could curtail production by about 400,000 barrels a day, but output will continue surging as many companies have secured the supplies and contracts needed to meet their goals, said Artem Abramov, vice president of analysis at analytics firm Rystad.

"We've got a completely new generation of small, private players with very ambitious growth plans in the Permian basin," he said. "Those plans will continue."

Write to Bradley Olson at [e-mail] and Sarah Kent at [e-mail]



(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 27, 2018 09:16 ET (13:16 GMT)

[optomistic] 27/4/2018 14:05

Just nudged into the highest price in 7 years.
...next target high is 650p
Could take a while :-/

[waldron] 27/4/2018 08:29

Total
51.9 -0.02%


Engie
14.38 +0.35%

Orange
14.97 -0.37%


BP
533 -0.43%



Shell A
2,495.5 -0.28%



Shell B
2,559 -0.39%




FTSE 100
7,423.74 +0.03%
Dow Jones
24,322.34 +0.99%
CAC 40
5,455.39 +0.03%



Brent Crude Oil NYMEX 73.64 -0.34%
Gasoline NYMEX 2.11 -0.33%
Natural Gas NYMEX 2.81 -0.42%

[waldron] 26/4/2018 17:14

Total
51.94 +1.54%



Engie
14.39 +1.48%

Orange
15.01 +1.62%



FTSE 100
7,418.07 +0.53%
Dow Jones
24,259.12 +0.73%
CAC 40
5,453.58 +0.74%




BP
535.3 +2.16%



Shell A
2,502.5 -1.03%



Shell B
2,569 -0.73%



Brent Crude Oil NYMEX 73.56 +0.33%
Gasoline NYMEX 2.10 +0.33%
Natural Gas NYMEX 2.83 +0.57%