KNOC makes hostile bid for Dana Petroleum
Dana Petroleum, the Aberdeen-based oil explorer, has received a hostile takeover bid from South Korea’s state-owned oil company, KNOC. KNOC is offering to buy the British firm in a deal worth £1.87 billion ($2.9 billion) – the equivalent of £18 per share. Should a deal be successful, it would boost South Korea’s oil reserves and [...]
Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy sells Indian assets
Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy has agreed to dispose of assets in India, in a deal worth £5 billion. India-focused miner, Vedanta Resources, will pay approximately £6 billion for a stake of between 51%-60% in Cairn India. The deal will provide Vedanta with the ability to expand into oil and gas. Founder of the company, Anil Agarwal, [...]
BP fined $50.6m fine for Texas explosion in 2005
Beleaguered oil giant BP has agreed to pay a record fine of $50.6 million (£32.5 million) for neglecting to correct safety hazards at its plant in Texas, where 15 men were killed in an explosion in 2005. The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said the penalty “rightly reflects BP’s disregard for workplace safety”. [...]
Dragon Oil H1 profits up by one third
Independent oil development and production company, Dragon Oil, has today announced profits grew in the first half of the year by 31%. The company posted a profit of $137.6 million for the six months ended June, against a $105.0 million profit in the same period a year earlier. Revenues, meanwhile, grew 4.9% to $276.3 million [...]
Clean-up costs continue to soar at BP
BP has announced its total clean-up costs, relating to the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, have surpassed the $6 billion mark. According to the company, costs have now reached $6.1 billion (£3.8 billion), including $319 million in compensation payments to businesses and individuals affected by the spill. Furthermore, the figure includes the cost of containing [...]
Static kill was successful says BP
Oil giant BP has revealed its latest attempt to seal the ruptured well was successful. The “static kill” procedure involves pumping heavy mud into the well and eventually sealing it permanently with cement. In a statement earlier today, BP said after many hours of pumping mud into the well, the mud is controlling pressure inside [...]
BP sells Colombian business
Oil giant BP has today announced it will dispose of its oil and gas exploration business in Colombia to national oil company, Ecopetrol and Talisman of Canada. The deal worth $1.9 billion (£1.2 billion) is part of BP’s plan to sell assets in order to fund its clean-up operation relating to the oil spill in [...]
Total Q2 profits surge 43%
French oil company Total SA has today announced second quarter profits soared 43% due to increasing production. The oil giant said profits reached €3.1 billion (£2.6 billion) for the April to June period, compared to €2.17 billion in the same period a year earlier, when earnings were hit by weak demand and prices amid the [...]
Exxon Q2 profits surge 91%
Exxon Mobil, which is the world’s largest oil company, has today announced profits nearly doubled in the April to June period – easily exceeding analysts’ expectations. The oil giant said net earnings rose to $7.56 billion, or $1.60 a share, against $3.95 billion, or 81 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. [...]
Royal Dutch Shell Q2 profits surge 94%
Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has today announced second quarter profits almost doubled after completing its restructuring programme ahead of schedule. Shell posted profits of $4.5 billion (£2.9 billion) – a rise of 94% on the $2.3 billion reported a year ago. The Anglo-Dutch firm, which is Britain’s second largest oil company, has undergone a [...]
BP’s Tony Hayward to depart in October
As widely expected, it has been announced today that BP chief executive, Tony Hayward, will step down in in October. Fifty-three-year-old Hayward has faced severe criticism for the way he has handled the major oil leak and made an insensitive comment in May after saying “I want my life back”. His comments came after the [...]
BP chief exec future in doubt
There is further speculation that oil giant BP is considering board changes, which could see the departure of chief executive, Tony Hayward. According to the BBC, he is likely to be replaced by his US colleague Bob Dudley, who is overseeing the clean-up operation. Last week, The Times reported that Mr Hayward would be stepping [...]
BP sells asset to fund clean-up operation
Oil giant BP has reached an agreement to sell assets in order to fund its clean-up operation, relating to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It has sold $7 billion (£4.6 billion) in assets to US-based oil production firm Apache Corp. As part of the deal, BP will receive a $5 billion cash [...]
BP’s Tony Hayward will not be resigning
BP’s chief executive, Tony Hayward, will not be stepping down from the oil giant – despite a newspaper claim that he would be departing in the next 10 weeks. A spokesperson for the company said: “He [Tony Hayward] has full support from the board and will remain in place.” Fifty-three-year-old Hayward has faced severe criticism [...]
BP shares down over seepage fears
There are fresh concerns for beleaguered oil giant, BP, today after engineers have detected oil seepage, despite an announcement last week that the leak had finally been stopped At the end of last week, Kent Wells, BP’s senior vice president of exploration and production, said a new sealing cap had been successful in shutting off [...]
BP shares up after leak finally stopped
Oil giant BP has finally stopped the flow of oil which has been leaking into the Gulf of Mexico since April. US listed shares of BP soared 7.6% yesterday after Kent Wells, the company’s senior vice president of exploration and production, said the new sealing cap had been successful in shutting off the flow of [...]
BP hopes sealing cap will stop oil leak
Oil giant BP is hopeful that a new sealing cap will stop oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico, although it warned the cap had never been deployed at such depths or under such conditions. The old cap, which it replaces, only managed to contain about half the oil escaping from the damaged well so [...]
Clean-up costs continue to soar at BP
BP has announced its total clean-up costs, relating to the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, have hit $3.5 billion (£2.3 billion) – up from $3.12 billion last week. The disaster happened after an explosion on a BP oil rig on 20 April, which took the lives of 11 people. The explosion led to thousands of [...]
BP aims to fix damaged oil well by end of July
Beleaguered oil giant BP has announced it aims to fix the leaking oil well by 27 July – ahead of its earlier forecast of mid-August. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, head of BP’s Gulf Coast restoration unit Bob Dudley, said: “In a perfect world with no interruptions, it is possible to be [...]
BP to inform US Government of any asset or merger deals
Following speculation that BP is seeking investment from Middle East sovereign wealth funds, the US Government has demanded that the oil giant inform it of any major transactions or merger deals in advance. It asked BP to inform US justice officials in advance of “any planned or contemplated events that may involve substantial transfers of [...]
Data, new rig fire send crude prices higher.