FINANCIAL TIMES
By Ed Crooks and Sheila McNulty
Published: April 23 2010 20:06 | Last updated: April 24 2010 02:48

The BP oil well in the Gulf of Mexico that suffered a catastrophic accident on Tuesday night appeared to have stopped leaking on Friday, easing fears that it could cause serious environmental damage.

The incident nevertheless ranks as one of the US offshore industry’s worst disasters. On Friday night the search was called off for the 11 workers missing from the Deepwater Horizon rig that had been working on the well.

The disaster is likely to become the subject of extensive litigation, with lawyers already moving to file cases against BP and Transocean, the drilling contractor that owned the rig.

COMPLETE FT ARTICLE

Daily Telegraph

Tony Hayward is at the centre of his first major crisis as chief executive of BP, after a drilling rig the company hired exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.

By Garry White
Published: 6:19PM BST 23 Apr 2010

The rig, called Deepwater Horizon, was owned and operated by Transocean. Eleven of the Swiss-based company’s staff are still missing.

BP has sent a flotilla of 32 ships to help to clean up the resulting oil slick. The US Coast Guard says about 200 barrels of oil were spilled and there was no oil escaping from the well the rig had tapped.

“We are determined to do everything in our power to contain this oil spill and resolve the situation as rapidly, safely and effectively as possible,” Mr Hayward said. “We have assembled and are now deploying world-class facilities, resources and expertise, and can call on more if needed.”

Mr Hayward has worked particularly hard to restore the reputation of BP in the US since he took the helm at the oil major three years ago. An explosion at its Texas City oil refinery in 2005 killed 15 Americans and injured almost 200 – resulting in significant damage to the company’s reputation.

In October 2007, the US Department of Justice levied a record $50m (£32.6m) fine after its investigation into the Texas City explosion after BP admitted it had inadequate procedures. It also paid a $303m fine for manipulation of the propane market and $20m for pipeline leaks at the same time.

The cause of this week’s blast is currently unknown but “it’s probably nobody’s fault,” Christine Tiscareno, an oil analyst at Standard & Poor’s said. “Even though operationally and ethically the company has turned around, this may pull it back.”

Under the US’s Oil Pollution Act, the owner or operator of a facility from which oil is discharged is liable for the costs of the cleanup and any resulting damages. The licence in the area was owned by BP, making it responsible.

“Although there may not be a direct impact on the financial performance, the big risk for BP is management time – and this is costly, Russell Corn of business intelligence group Diligence said. “The board should be focused on running the business and improving shareholder value – instead they could end up spending time on reputation management.”

The accident is unlikely to dampen oil group’s plans in these dangerous environments. “The IEA forecasts that 50pc of energy needs for the next 30 years will have to come from oil & gas,” says Lloyd Slater, a spokesman of the International Association of Oil & Gas producers. “All this oil will have to be found – and that means deep water will have to be drilled.”

President Obama also said that he would not reconsider his plans for more offshore drilling following the accident.

BP shares rose 3.3 to 639.7p. In New York, Transocean shares fell $2.32 to $87.97 in early trade.

• Coast guards call off search for oil rig survivors
• BP sends flotilla to contain spill after rig sinks
• Millions of gallons of oil spill into Gulf of Mexico
• US oil rig blast: 11 missing
• BP fined record $87m for ‘life-threatening’ failings

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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

APRIL 23, 2010

FRANKFURT (Dow Jones)–The following is a summary of analysts’ forecasts for Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s (RDSB) first-quarter results, based on a poll of 12 analysts by Dow Jones Newswires (in million USD, target price in pence, production in kboe/d, according to IFRS). Earnings figures are scheduled to be released April 28.

===
               CCS Earnings   Production  Target
1st Quarter     adjusted(a)    (kboe/d)   Price   Rating 

AVERAGE            3,976        3,401     2,128
Prev. Year         3,010        3,395      n.a.
+/- in %             +32         +0.2      n.a. 

MEDIAN             3,956        3,413     2,100
Maximum            4,210        3,480     2,350
Minimum            3,716        3,228     2,000
Amount                12           12         9 

Barclays           4,182        3,480     2,350   Equalweight
Benchmark Cap.     3,809        3,228        --   Sell
Citigroup          3,957        3,396     2,200   Buy
DnB NOR            3,941        3,375        --   Buy
Exane BNP Par.     4,156        3,446     2,150   Outperform
ING                3,954        3,419     2,020   Hold
Keijser Capital    4,210        3,477     2,100   Hold
Morgan Stanley     4,015        3,428     2,000   Underweight
Oddo               3,716        3,406     2,050   Add
Oppenheimer        3,947        3,274        --   Perform
Societe Generale   3,800        3,399     2,230   Buy
UniCredit          4,030        3,480     2,050   Hold
===

Year-earlier figures are as reported by the company.

(a) Clean cost of supplies.

   DJG/sag

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By Kim Chipman and Jim Efstathiou Jr.

April 24 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc and ConocoPhillips are among oil companies intending to back climate-change legislation in the U.S. Senate, according to people familiar with their plans.

Exelon Corp., the biggest U.S. utility owner by market value, also supports the measure, and Chief Executive Officer John Rowe will be on hand when the bill is presented at a news conference on April 26, said Howard Riefs, a spokesman for the Chicago-based company.

Senators John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, and Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, have worked for months to get energy companies such as Shell and ConocoPhillips behind compromise legislation after a House-passed measure stalled.

The new bill, which would start taking effect in 2013, would create an emissions-trading program for utility companies and later expand to manufacturers. It calls for $10 billion for “clean-coal” technology, and it would provide incentives for nuclear power through expanded federal loan guarantees and liability protection for as many as 12 nuclear plants. Graham has called the nuclear provisions the “crown jewel” of the legislation.

General Electric Co. is among companies expressing interest in the measure while withholding a full endorsement until it is in final form.

“From the little we do know, we believe it will be a step forward,” said Peter O’Toole, a spokesman for Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE, which produces equipment that generates one-third of the world’s electricity. “As for GE endorsing or having an opinion of any kind, we need to see the bill first.”

Odum, Rogers

A representative of GE probably will attend the news conference, O’Toole said.

Also expected are Marvin Odum, president of U.S. operations for The Hague-based Shell, and Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy Corp., said the people, who asked not to be identified before the announcement.

Kerry said on a conference call on April 22 that at least three of the five biggest oil companies will endorse the legislation, according to people with knowledge of the call. Kerry didn’t identify the companies, they said.

Under the Senate compromise, oil companies would be given free pollution allowances that would expire by a certain date, after which allowances would have to be purchased, according to the people.

Kerry spokeswoman Whitney Smith declined to comment yesterday on the call or on provisions of the legislation.

The House version of the legislation would have established a cap-and-trade program for almost every part of the U.S. economy, with carbon emissions limited and pollution allowances traded on a market.

Edison Electric Institute

The Edison Electric Institute, a Washington-based trade group representing the electric-utility industry, is also likely to back the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman measure, according to the people. Edison spokesman Jim Owen said the group hasn’t seen the legislation yet and “we’re not saying anything.”

“Shell believes that comprehensive energy and climate legislation is essential to meeting our growing demand for energy and that a national framework will help keep down the cost of doing business and provide the regulatory certainty that companies need,” company spokesman Ted Rolfvondenbaumen, said in an e-mailed statement.

Nancy Turner, a spokeswoman for Houston-based ConocoPhillips, said, “We have not yet seen the bill so therefore it is premature for us to comment.”

Tom Williams, a spokesman for Charlotte, North Carolina- based Duke, declined to comment.

Barring EPA

The legislation is drawing criticism from an environmental organization, Greenpeace USA. The group opposes a provision that would bar the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases and also suspend carbon-trading programs in the states.

The issue is a “line in the sand for many in the environmental movement,” Damon Moglen, director of the Greenpeace USA Global Warming campaign, said in an interview. Moglen was among participants on the conference call with Kerry.

– With assistance from Rachel Layne in Boston, Jessica Resnick- Ault in New York, Edward Klump in Houston and Simon Lomax in Washington. Editors: Larry Liebert, Joe Winski

To contact the reporters on this story: Kim Chipman in Washington at kchipman@bloomberg.net; Jim Efstathiou Jr. in New York at jefstathiou@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Larry Liebert at lliebert@bloomberg.net.

SOURCE ARTICLE

24 April 2010

Oil majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell are set to benefit from improving crude prices when the rivals present their first-quarter figures.

Consensus forecasts put underlying profits from BP on Tuesday at around 4.8 billion dollars (£3.1 billion) – almost double its earnings for the first quarter of 2009.

Similarly Anglo-Dutch rival Shell is likely to make gains on last year’s 3.3 billion dollars (£2.2 billion) in first quarter figures on Wednesday.

In its recent strategy update, BP said it would begin production on 42 major projects worldwide over the next five years as existing fields decline, and boost profits by taking more costs out of the business.

Copyright © 2010 The Press Association. All rights reserved.

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BBC News

US President Barack Obama has said that dealing with Tuesday’s oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is a “number one priority”.

The government was providing “all assistance needed” in the rescue effort off Louisiana, and in mitigating any environmental impact, he said.

The Deepwater Horizon sank after a blast, leaving 11 workers missing.

There are fears of a major spill, with the coastguards saying the rig may be leaking 8,000 barrels of oil per day.

‘Assumed dead’

The rig was carrying out exploratory drilling 84km (52 miles) south-east of the Louisiana port of Venice when the blast occurred.

Seventeen workers were injured and more than 100 were evacuated.

The rig had been burning for 36 hours when it sank on Thursday in 5,000 ft (1,500m) of water, despite efforts to control the flames.

There has been no sign of the 11 missing workers, despite rescue efforts by patrol boats and an aerial search.

Adrian Rose, from Transocean, which owns the rig, said those unaccounted for may have been close to the blast and unable to escape.

Carolyn Kemp, whose 27-year old grandson is missing, said that families had been told that it was unlikely any more had survived.

“They’re assuming all those men who were on the platform are dead,” Ms Kemp told Associated Press. “That’s the last we’ve heard.”

Leak fears

Rescue crews had covered the expanse of the rig 12 times by air and five times by boat before it sank.

Seventeen of the 126 workers were evacuated by air and sea for treatment on Wednesday.

DEEPWATER HORIZON Designated a semi-submersible drilling unit Built in 2001 by South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries Shipyard Size: 396ft (120m) long by 256ft (78m) wide Designed to operate in water depths of up to 8,000ft In pictures: Oil rig blaze

Those injured had suffered burns, smoke inhalation and broken bones. Four were critically injured.

Another 100 were later taken by boat to Port Fourchon where they were checked by doctors. They were then taken to a hotel in New Orleans to be reunited with their families.

Meanwhile, there are worries that the now submerged rig is leaking large volumes of oil into the Gulf.

Before the explosion, the rig carried 2.6m litres of diesel fuel and was pumping 8,000 barrels (1.27m litres) of crude oil a day – a volume which may still be leaking from the well into the Gulf of Mexico.

Rear Adm Mary Landry said crews saw an area measuring one mile by five miles (1.5km by 8km) of what appeared to be oil on the surface of the water.

Officials say the environmental damage would be worst if any spill reached the Louisiana shore, 50 miles away.

An operation was being mounted to contain and clean-up the spill, including skimmers, booms to contain the oil and aeroplanes to drop dispersants on it.

A remote-controlled submarine has been deployed to find the exact location of the sunken rig and the condition of the well.

Deepwater Horizon was drilling for BP on part of the Mississippi Canyon Block 252 known as the Macondo prospect, in 1,500m (5,000ft) of water.

Built in 2001 by South Korea’s Hyundai, the semi-submersible rig is 120m (396ft) long and 78m (256ft) wide, according to Transocean.

It said there had been no signs of trouble before the explosion and crews had been doing routine work.

The dangers of working on an oil rig have declined in recent decades, but the job can still be risky.

Since 2001, there have been 858 fires and explosions in the Gulf, according to the federal Minerals Management Service.

SOURCE ARTICLE WITH VIDEO

Published: April 23, 2010 at 10:32 AM

ARIS, April 23 (UPI) — Natural gas has a central role to play in the energy and environmental future for the European community, Shell officials said in France.

European geopolitics are influenced by regional natural gas supplies. The region, meanwhile, has adopted measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions substantially by 2020.

Malcolm Brinded, executive director for upstream business at Royal Dutch Shell, told an audience at an international oil summit in Paris summit that Europe, however, “faces a natural gas puzzle.”

Domestic natural gas supplies, he said, are in marked decline, though demand for the resource is increasing. Meanwhile, natural gas, the cleanest-burning fossil fuel, plays a central role in the European effort to reduce its impact on the environment.

But European gas supplies are more promising than most believe, Brinded said. Production from gas shale and developments in liquefied natural gas, he stressed, would make an important contribution to European energy security.

“But to achieve long-term gas supply security, Europe needs to send clear, positive signals about the place of natural gas in its future energy mix,” he said.

© 2010 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

UPI ARTICLE

Muckety

By Laurie Bennett April 23, 2010 at 9:43am

Federal investigators have identified 41 foreign companies helping Iran to develop its energy capacity. Although no U.S. companies were named, some of the companies doing business with Iran also have contracts with the U.S. government. Two examples, as shown in our Muckety map, are Royal Dutch Shell and Daelim Industrial.

SOURCE ARTICLE & INTERACTIVE RELATIONSHIP MAP