May 6th, 2007:

By Glen Owen
6 May 2007

LORD BROWNE was determined to secure his legacy by masterminding a mega-merger with Shell to create the largest company in the world, according to Jeff Chevalier.

The proposal to form a corporate giant called BPShell has been the subject of City rumours for years. But only now can it be revealed how tantalisingly close Lord Browne came to pulling off his coup.

Mr Chevalier describes how Lord Browne moved, with characteristic ruthlessness, after his arch rival was plunged into turmoil over oil reserves in 2004. read more

CRUDE COSTS STABLE
By Will Shanley
Denver Post Staff Writer

Big oil is making big money – again.

With the average price of gas popping past the psychologically important $3-per-gallon mark last week, oil producers and refiners have been reaping big rewards.

Gross profit margins on gasoline at the nation’s refineries reached $31.22 per barrel Thursday, the second-widest recorded margin in U.S. history, according to data provided by the New York Mercantile Exchange. The margins are up 57 percent from the start of April and are more than double the same time last year. read more

Whatever his future, Lord Browne is the man who turned BP from a two-pipeline company into a world leader, writes Oliver Morgan

Sunday May 6, 2007

That there is no room for sentiment in the City has rarely been more starkly illustrated than by the departure last week of Lord Browne of Madingley from the chief executive’s suite at BP. ‘It makes no difference,’ said one senior fund manager. ‘From our perspective, Tony Hayward [Browne’s replacement] has been running things for some time anyway.’ read more

May 06, 2007

LONDON (XFN-ASIA) – Oil was up ahead of a three-day weekend in the UK as traders cleared positions, and geopolitical tensions lent underlying support.

Gains were capped, however, amid thin trading conditions, a healthy US crude supply and as Nigerian production looked likely to increase.

At 1.54 pm, London Brent crude for June delivery was up 35 cents at 66.40 usd. Meanwhile, New York crude for June delivery was down 3 cents at 63.16 usd a barrel.

“There usually is an increase (in prices) before a long weekend,” said Simon Wardell, Global Insight analyst. read more

By DENNIS RICE
6 May 2007

In the international oil business, everything has a price – even human life.

Lord Browne told his lover that BP had coldly calculated the value at £10 million: that was how much the company was prepared to spend on safety measures to avert the death of one of its workers.

His alleged admission – which implies that workers would be sacrificed if it cost more than that to protect them – was made just months before an explosion caused by faulty safety equipment ripped through a BP refinery in Texas, killing 15 and injuring 180 in March 2005. read more

By DENNIS RICE 
6 May 2007

Oil giant BP threatened to switch its headquarters abroad, according to the former lover of its disgraced boss Lord Browne – a move that would have had devastating consequences for tax revenues and employment in the City of London.

Not only is the company Britain’s biggest firm and among the five highest payers of corporation tax – contributing £1.34billion to the Exchequer last year alone – but it employs thousands of people in London.

BP, now the world’s fifth largest company – employing 97,000 people – is an iconic British business founded as part of pre-war imperial foreign policy and was the flagship of Margaret Thatcher’s privatisation policy. read more