We provided the results of our investigation to the U.S. Department of Justice, which declined criminal prosecution.
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Posts from ‘December, 2010’
INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT ON GALE NORTON, SHELL SCANDAL – PART 2
Determination from the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE)
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INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT ON GALE NORTON, SHELL SCANDAL – PART 1
The Office of Inspector General concluded an investigation based on a complaint that Royal Dutch Shell (Shell) received preferential treatment during the awarding of oil shale Research, Development, and Demonstration (RDD) leases in 2005 and 2006 by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Since former Secretary Gale Norton subsequently secured employment with Shell, we expanded our investigation to consider her involvement…
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Slick BP could attract a bid from Shell after asset sales
Disaster recovery
By Rob Davies
Last updated at 1:13 AM on 15th December 2010
BP was the strongest blue-chip riser on the Footsie as talk of a bid in the new year from Royal Dutch Shell resurfaced and the firm raked in nearly £500m by selling assets in Pakistan.
Trading in BP reached frenzied levels – boosting its shares by 14.75p to 473.1p – amid positive broker sentiment and fresh speculation that Shell or US rival Exxon Mobil could revive their interest in a bid during 2011.
BP’s share price languished as low as 304.6p following April’s Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, sparking talk that several rivals were drawing up plans for an opportunistic bid.
Takeover whispers have all but fizzled out since then, as the company continues its road to recovery under new chief executive Bob Dudley.
But the sale of more than £13billion of BP’s less highly-prized assets, at good prices, has left behind a sleeker operation that could prove even more attractive to potential suitors.
BP’s shares were also buoyed by the sale of exploration and production assets in Pakistan for £492million to Hong Kong-based United Energy Group. The disposal takes the running total of post-Deepwater Horizon sales to £13.2billion, well over halfway towards BP’s target of up to £19billion by the end of next year.
Credit Suisse added to the upbeat mood around BP by rating the London-listed firm its long-term top pick in the oil sector for 2011.
The firm’s analysts slapped a target price of 585p on the stock, a 24 per cent premium to yesterday’s closing price.
They said markets had been too pessimistic on the total bill arising from the firm’s leaking Macondo well, which caused the worst oil spill in US history.
BP now looks likely to avoid a charge of gross negligence, which would have seen environmental fines spiral from £3.5billion to £13.8billion. The bullish assessment from Credit Suisse came hot on the heels of a note from brokerage Killik, which also rated BP as one of its top picks for the coming year.
BP’s woes in the Gulf of Mexico have so far taken a £34billion chunk out of its market value – which stood at nearly £89bn yesterday. But analysts’ optimism is rooted in the expectation that the overall cost of the disaster will be far less than the stock market hit.
Dudley – who took over from Tony Hayward at the beginning of October – is expected to reinstate the firm’s frozen dividend at fourth- quarter results in February, albeit at a lower level than the pre-Deepwater Horizon payout of nearly 9p per share.
Opportunistic takeover bid of BP by ExxonMobil or Shell
Oil giant makes its comeback
Comeback: The oil giant climbed to the top of the risers in latest trading
By Alex Brummer
Last updated at 1:12 AM on 15th December 2010
No one should get too starry-eyed about BP. The shares are still £2 below the peak achieved before the Macondo well explosion in April, the dividend is still in abeyance and the White House-appointed oil claims czar – Kenneth Feinberg – is still spending the group’s money as the claims from the Gulf region pour in.
Nevertheless, it could be much worse.
Under the settled claims BP receives a legal release; this prevents those taking the cash now from suing. So the fear, at the peak of the crisis last summer, that eventually a renegade, elected Texas judge would make a ruling which would represent an existential threat to the company (as was the case at Texaco a generation ago) has retreated.
In the meantime the great assets sale, put in place to fund the $20billion compensation fund, continues. The sale of BP’s interests in Pakistan to Hong Kong-based explorer United Energy Group means the disposals have reached $20.8billion (£13.2billion).
The speed at which this target has been achieved is remarkable and testimony to the trading skills of chief executive Bob Dudley and his team.
The stock market appears to have picked up this message and BP climbed to the top of the risers in latest trading. This may be in anticipation of a restoration of the dividend now that the disposals have largely been made, some at better-than-expected prices.
What has never been in doubt is the company’s ability to find new oil, since over the decades it has been better at that than most of its competitors.
If there is a problem going forward it is that extraction costs are going to be far higher given the amount of safety redundancy that must be built in. One of the worrying things for BP’s management is that now the costs of the spill have been capped there remains, at the current share price, the possibility of an opportunistic takeover bid with both ExxonMobil and Shell potential candidates.
If that were to happen, BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg may, spare the thought, have less time to spend with his yacht or on the golf course.
RELATED DAILY MAIL ARTICLE: Slick BP could attract a bid from Shell after asset sales
Gale Norton’s departure from Shell Oil
“Ms. Norton was under investigation because there was (and still is) the ‘stench’ of corruption in the air regarding her conduct as DoI Secretary and the awarding of leases to Shell, followed by her eventual employment with Shell. Her departure from Shell indicates that Shell had no ‘further’ need for her services, and that she was a PR liability, if not a legal liability.”
John,
I read your article regarding Gale Norton’s lashing out at the investigation of her conduct in taking the job with RD Shell after leaving DoI.
Federal employees are all given ‘civilian’ employment ‘ethics’ counseling prior to exiting Federal Service. Furthermore, such counseling service is available for those who have exited and who might want take a position with a company where there might be a ‘conflict’, real or perceived. These services were available to Ms. Norton from the DoI General Counsel’s office, or Inspector General’s Office, I am certain, and perhaps the Dept. of Justice as well. She could have availed herself of these services and sought an ‘official’ opinion from US government attorneys regarding employment with RD Shell.
I see no mention that Ms. Norton availed herself of the opportunity to seek such an opinion. I am certain that government attorneys would NOT have found that to be ‘ethical’, etc., and I presume that Ms. Norton was aware of this as well.
Ms. Norton was under investigation because there was (and still is) the ‘stench’ of corruption in the air regarding her conduct as DoI Secretary and the awarding of leases to Shell, followed by her eventual employment with Shell. Her departure from Shell indicates that Shell had no ‘further’ need for her services, and that she was a PR liability, if not a legal liability.
Taxpayers money was not wasted. That investigation serves notice to others who would seek to use their position as a political employee improperly to gain lucrative employment in the private sector after leaving government service that conduct which simply has the ‘appearance’ of impropriety will be investigated. That is, in and of itself, a strong deterrent to willful misconduct on the part of high officials.
I have no sympathy for Ms. Norton. She brought ordeal this on herself.
BP shines as FTSE 100 hits new high for year
Fuelled by a rise in BP, the benchmark index headed to its highest level so far this year.
By Rachel Cooper, City Reporter 7:02PM GMT 14 Dec 2010
Having been treated to a round of deals earlier in the week, investors were on the hunt for fresh takeover tittle-tattle. BP did the honours, gushing up 14¾ to 473.1p as traders pointed to vague speculation about a possible bid from rival Royal Dutch Shell.
As ever, such rumours come with a health warning and there were other factors helping BP.
The oil major sold its Pakistan oil and gas assets to Hong Kong-listed United Energy Group for $775m (£489m) as part of its strategy to sell off up to $30bn of assets to help cover the costs of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Jason Kenney, an analyst at ING, said BP was well ahead of target on its divestment plan and reiterated his “buy” rating.
He added that Shell rumours may be based on BP’s relative undervaluation and the attractiveness of BP’s asset base. “Never say never – but a bid is unlikely in my view,” he said.
Also helping BP was Credit Suisse raising its target price to 585p from 515p. However, analysts at Jefferies were more circumspect. They began coverage of BP with a “hold” rating and 475p target price. The broker said that although BP was cheap, it remained cautious on the stock “while the key issue of the company’s gross negligence for the Macondo oil spill remains unresolved, as we believe this has the potential to double the cost of the spill net to BP”.
“It will take several months before the final Macondo cost becomes clear to investors and we see little reason to become more positive on the stock while this issue hangs over it,” said analysts.
Jefferies initiated on Royal Dutch Shell with a “buy” recommendation and £23.50 price target. Analysts believe the oil major is “emerging after a long period of decline into what we see as a sustained period of growth”.
Shell gained 28½p to £20.81½.
Corruption in Malaysia
THIS EMAIL HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SHELL
Dear Sir,
I had read through your website http://royaldutchshellplc.com/2008/06/21/rampant-corruption-in-malaysia/
I wish to highlight a problem here in Sungai Petani City , Kedah, Malaysia . It is regarding the largest (main) army ammunition depot and housing of explosive materials located in the city Sungai Petani Kedah , Malaysia. The federal government is ignoring a time bomb waiting to explode, the largest army ammunition depot placed beside (2 Major Housing Areas) Taman Melor , Taman Orkid, 2 Schools and lands belonging to the general public with an estimated population of 5000 to 7000 in the said 2 Housing Areas areas. If the army ammunition depot explodes the killing zone will be 1 – 3 kilometers (maybe even more), it will also wipe out the Sungai Petani town as well.
I also show you video footage of ammunition depot explosions having occurred in other countries – please view at http://annamalai1973.blogspot.com (where the footage shows the destruction has killed many and the destruction capable of reaching up to 20 kilometers).In the blog you will find STAR newspaper and New Strait Times newspaper articles of the ammunition depot problem in Sungai Petani Kedah (Malaysia), including database provided by SALW Stockholm Sweden – few hundred ammunition depot explosions having killed thousands of people (men, women and children), destroying thousands of homes and injuring many more thousands of people over many years. With this ammo depot they have also deprived us of developing our own lands (minority group), while they have approved developments belonging to the majority race which is equally near to the ammo depot here in Malaysia. I believe this is called racism and selective discrimination., The problem also involves corruption and fraud explained in detail in the blog mentioned above.
Plz view the blog mentioned above. I am very well aware you may not be able to do anything but nevertheless I am trying to reach out to people and many other organizations – showing what the Malaysian government has done to my family and many others.
regards
Mr.Annamalai
Penang island
Malaysia.
Hello Mr.John,
Thanks for your email. You can include my name as mentioned in the newspaper articles and blog.
Its difficult to get this kind of story published in the internet, Maybe people are not interested in Malaysia.
Regards,
Annamalai
BP jumps on takeover talk
Tuesday 14 December 2010
BP was in the takeover spotlight as leading shares rose for the fourth trading day in a row to hit a new high for the year.
The company was the biggest riser in the leading index, up 14.75p to 473.10p on talk of possible bid interest from Royal Dutch Shell, whose B shares added 28.5p to 2081.5p. More than 61m BP shares changed hands, well above recent levels. Since the Gulf of Mexico disaster BP has been seen as vulnerable to a bid, with Exxon Mobil also mentioned as a possible predator.
BP also announced the sale of oil and gas assets in Pakistan for $775m to Hong Kong listed United Energy Group. The price is higher than analysts expected, and brings the amount the company has raised in recent months to help pay for the Gulf spill to around £22bn.
Meanwhile analysts at Credit Suisse did their bit for BP, raising their target price from 515p to 585p. They said:
BP remains our top pick for long-term investors, as we think the market remains overly pessimistic on the costs of the Macondo spill. The next catalyst is the February 2011 strategy update by Bob Dudley, which should give some visibility on BP’s portfolio after Macondo. We will not have clarity on gross negligence from the Department of Justice before the second half of 2011, but two other investigations could give a verdict in the first quarter.
BP gains on Royal Dutch Shell bid talk
By David Brett
LONDON, Dec 14 (Reuters) – Gains in energy stocks offset falling miners, leaving Britain’s top share index almost level on Tuesday, with BP the top riser on vague market talk of bid interest from Royal Dutch Shell.
By 1156 GMT the FTSE 100 .FTSE was 1.15 points higher at 5,861.90 in light trade, after rising 0.8 percent on Monday to its highest close since Nov. 9.
BP rose 2.3 percent, with traders citing talk of potential bid interest from Royal Dutch Shell. Both companies chose not to comment.
The oil major was also helped by a bullish note from Credit Suisse, which raised its forecasts for oil prices in 2011 and reiterated that BP is its top pick in the sector.
BP said it had agreed to sell a portfolio of oil and gas assets in Pakistan for $775 million, higher than analyst estimates, as it raises cash to pay for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
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