BP Target Neutral expansion encouraging for low carbon programme
BP’s aim to balance its carbon footprint takes a substantial leap forward with the announcement that the project portfolio will expand its offsetting mandate this year.
BP-News
BP given consent to use Valhall facilities beyond their lifetime
Oil major BP has received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) to use the Valhall DP and PCP facilities beyond their lifetime. BP wishes to use the DP facility as a wellhead platform until the wells are decommissioned, plugged and closed down.
Wood Group PSN lands BP contract
Wood Group PSN has been awarded a five year contract from BP worth an estimated $750million. The contract will deliver engineering, procurement and construction services to six UKCS offshore upstream assets and the FPS (Forties Pipeline System) onshore midstream facilities in Grangemouth. The contract win will create 150 new jobs and secure more than 700 existing positions.
BP could make deeper cuts to its 2015 budget
Oil major BP said deeper cuts could be made to its 2015 budget on the back of OPEC’s recent position and falling oil prices. The company has already announced up to $1billion in restructuring costs as it cuts thousands of jobs across its global oil and gas business. BP head of upstream, Lamar McKay, announced the company’s future plans at a meeting of investors in London.
BP to incur $1billion in restructuring charges
Oil major BP said it expects to incur restructuring charges of $1billion over the next five quarters. The company will present its future strategy to investors in London following an announcement earlier this week that job cuts would be made. Chief executive of BP Upstream, Lamar McKay, and a senior members of the management team are set to outline its changing position on the back of falling oil prices.
BP weighs future of aging Norwegian fields amidst oil crash
As oil prices keep falling, BP is among Norwegian oil producers having to take a hard look at whether to kill off aging offshore fields earlier than planned because squeezing out the last barrels might not be worth it. BP is currently deciding on plans for the five fields it operates in Norway in a study to be completed in the first half, said Jan Erik Geirmo, a Stavanger-based spokesman. “Falling oil prices, lower production and more demanding operations, in addition to significant costs for shutting down and removing old installations and platforms, are continuous challenges that may have an impact on the lifetime of some of our fields,” Geirmo said in an e-mailed reply to questions. What goes for BP also goes for an industry hit by squeezed margins even as the government demands it meet commitments to keep investing to ensure resources are exploited in full.
BP shares down 2% on back of US Supreme Court battle
BP shares were down 2% as investors reacted to the company's failure to win a US Supreme Court battle over oil spill compensation claims. The price of Brent crude fell to $66 a barrel due to oversupply fears.
US Supreme Court rejects BP payout appeal
A challenge by BP over a settlement agreement following the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill has been rejected by the US Supreme Court. The oil major had claimed the deal allowed certain businesses to get payouts, despite being unable to trace their losses to the disaster. The court’s refusal to hear the appeal by BP means that it will have to continue making payments as it deals with the aftermath of the explosion four years ago.
BP rate of job losses set to increase
The rate of job losses across BP in the UK and abroad will increase after dropping oil prices intensified the company’s simplification plans, the oil giant said. Some 15,000 of BP’s employees are based in the UK, while the company employs about 84,000 people worldwide. BP’s finance director Brian Gilvary is reported to have said: “What you’ll see with this simplification plan is that headcounts are starting to come down across all of our activities in upstream, downstream and in the corporate centres - essentially the layers above operations.”
Energy firms weigh on market, BP slides
Energy firms and airlines were big movers today after the decision by Opec ministers not to cut output triggered a further fall in oil prices. With Brent crude at a fresh four-year low of 72 US dollars a barrel overnight, the FTSE 100 Index tumbled 40.1 points to 6683.3 on the back of sizeable declines for some of the City’s biggest stocks. BP was down 3%, or 14.15p to 412.25p, and rival Royal Dutch Shell slid by 65p to 2200.5p. Oil and gas exploration firm BG was the biggest faller in the top flight with a decline of more than 7% or 73.8p to 912.9p, while energy services firm Weir declined 152p to 1808p.
Injured BP oil spill cleanup workers may be last to get paid
BP Plc, having pledged billions of dollars for damages caused by the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, won’t have to make payouts any time soon to more than 95 percent of the workers hurt while cleaning up the mess. If the workers want money for their physical injuries, they’ll need to sue the company, a federal judge in New Orleans ruled yesterday, saying they no longer qualify for automatic compensation under the company’s medical-benefits settlement.
BP loses bid for new trial over its Gulf spill negligence
BP Plc lost a bid for a new trial on findings that it was grossly negligent in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a decision that exposes the company to $18 billion in pollution fines. The loss follows multiple BP legal setbacks, including failed efforts to cut the cost of its settlement with spill victims. After being told by trial and appeals courts that it must live with the deal it negotiated, BP is awaiting a U.S. Supreme Court decision on whether it will hear the company’s complaint that the deal is being misinterpreted to compensate claimants BP says it didn’t intended to pay.
BP launches North Sea cost reduction exercise
Oil giant BP has launched a cost reduction exercise in the North Sea in line with rivals such as Shell and Chevron which have cut hundreds of jobs. The firm, which recently announced a significant new discovery in the central North Sea along with partner GDF Suez, said that rising costs and toughening market conditions were to blame for the restructuring move. The company declined to reveal the expected effects on its 4,000 North Sea workforce, saying that the company was in the “early stages” of the process.
Oil at $80 is no bar for BP, Total to explore for more crude
Oil at $80 a barrel won’t stop BP Plc or Total SA from exploring and developing crude deposits. Oil has dropped into a bear market this year, with prices falling almost 30 percent since June amid a global glut. OPEC won’t cut its collective output when it meets this month and global oil prices will stabilize once the surplus is absorbed, Kuwait Oil Minister Ali Al-Omair said at an oil conference in Abu Dhabi, the capital of United Arab Emirates, yesterday. All projects under way now will go ahead with oil at $80 a barrel, London-based BP Chief Executive Officer Robert Dudley said at the conference. Total, based in Paris, can proceeed with its projects at $80, Arnaud Breuillac, president of exploration and production, also said in Abu Dhabi. Brent crude, benchmark for more than half of the world’s oil, fell 0.5 percent today to $81.97 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe in London, extending this year’s retreat to 26 percent. “We have only sanctioned or approved projects based on an $80 oil price,” Dudley said. “We’ve been doing that three or four years so there isn’t any project that we’re working on today, particularly those big capital projects, that we have any different view of.”
BP to invest in new Egyptian licences
BP Egypt and its partners plan to invest $240million in a pair of blocks just awarded as a result of the 2013 EGAS (Egyptian Natural Gas Holding) round. The oil major said the programme will include 3D seismic and three exploration wells in each of the onshore and offshore blocks in phases lasting between six to eight years. The first block, the North El Mataria, is BP’s first entry into the Onshore Nile Delta.
BP to deploy new robotic EOR technology on North Sea’s Clair Ridge
BP confirmed it is now operating the world’s first robotic coreflooding system in a bid to boost its enhanced oil recovery abilities. The firm also confirmed the new technology will now be fully deployed on the Clair Ridge project in the North Sea.
BP to have third shot with Clair field
Oil giant BP is planning at least one more development phase for the huge west of Shetland Clair field at a likely cost in the range £6.3billion-£9.4billion. No clear time-scale for development has been set - it is is at the concept stage just now - but the current expectation is that phase three of Clair will up and running before the original first stage peters out by around 2028. The cost estimate is two to three times higher than the current phase two - Clair Ridge - development, where production is expected to start in 2016.
BP halts production at Skarv
Oil giant BP has halted production at its Skarv field in the Norwegian Sea due to a technical issue. The company has invested more than £4billion in the development since production began in January last year. A spokesman for BP said a problem with a short-circuit resulted in the outage of a train 1 gas compressor.
BP third-quarter profit falls 19%
BP Plc, Europe’s third-largest oil company, reported a 19% decline in quarterly profit. The company increased its dividend to 10 cents a share.
BP shouldn’t get new trial on spill ruling, Halliburton says
BP's bid for a new trial over causes of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill should be rejected because the judge didn’t rely on excluded testimony, Halliburton Co. said in court papers.
Chevron and BP make oil discovery in GOM
Oil major Chevron has made a new oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico. The company said a significant oil pay had been made at the Keathley Canyon Block 10 in the Guadalupe prospect.
GDF Suez and BP make UK North Sea oil find
GDF Suez and BP have made a new oil discovery in the UK Central North Sea.
BP awards contracts for $12billion LNG expansion
Oil giant BP has awarded engineering contracts for its $12billion expansion of its Tangguh Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) development in Indonesia. The contracts are for the onshore Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) to a number of partners including PT Tripatra Engineers and Contractors.
BP strikes deal for EOR technology
Oil giant BP has signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi’s offshore company ADMA-OPCO to develop a new technology for enhance oil recovery (EOR). Senior officials from the company recently visited BP’s EOR laboratory in Sunbury and research centre in Pangbourne.
BP restarts Rhum field
BP will restart the Rhum gas field in the UK North Sea, half-owned by Iran's National Oil Company, four years after the field was shut down due to Western sanctions.