FTSE 100 market report: Budget goodies lift oil majors March 18, 2015 Britain's blue-chip index was 0.1 per cent higher this lunchtime as investors digested the chancellor's budget. Chancellor George Osborne unveiled £1.3bn additional support for the struggling north sea oil and gas industry. He said the Office for Budget Responsibility predicts this will boost production by around 15 per cent. Crumbling oil prices have made a [...]
Tesco hires BP vice president Byron Grote March 4, 2015 BP director and vice president Byron Grote is joining Tesco's board as the troubled supermarket looks to bolster its financial experience. Grote, who has been at BP since it acquired Standard Oil of Ohio in 1987, joins the Tesco board on May 1 as a non-executive director. The grocer said he brought “extensive executive [...]
Oil giant BP predicts Opec comeback as Brent crude price rises February 17, 2015 Saudi Arabia and its fellow Opec members are set to make a massive comeback and regain control of the world’s crude oil market, and could be in their previous position of influence as early as next year. The prediction, published by oil giant BP yesterday, is based on growth in America’s production of shale gas [...]
BP’s four key predictions for how the world’s energy sector will change over the next 20 years February 17, 2015 While the falling price of oil continues to cause problems for the world's energy companies, worldwide energy demand will have picked up by 2035. Energy consumption is expected to rise by 37 per cent between 2013 and 2035, with an average annual increase of 1.4 per cent. This is one of the predictions [...]
Rocky market could prompt oil mega-mergers as price fall forces drastic decisions February 3, 2015 After six months of falling oil prices, analysts have pointed to a possible mega-merger between the majors. Chances of a shock deal have been heightened by firms slashing their spending in the face of oil prices that are expected to remain low for at least the next six months and possibly the next three years. [...]
BP share price rises, despite profit slumping as oil price slide takes its toll February 3, 2015 BP's share price opened up this morning after the oil and gas giant reported better than expected results for the year. The numbers The oil price fall has been taking its toll. Underlying profits in the final three months of 2014 were down 20 per cent on a year earlier at $2.2bn (£1.5bn). Including [...]
BP announces pay freeze for 84,000 workers thanks to oil price slump January 26, 2015 Oil giant BP has frozen the pay of its 84,000 staff as the collapsing price of oil takes its toll on the FTSE 100. Brent crude has collapsed by more than 57 per cent since the summer, from in $110 to under $50. The company's chief executive Bob Dudley sent a memo to employees notifying [...]
BP saves £2.6m after it turns out Gulf of Mexico spill was smaller than thought January 16, 2015 It's not often the UK's oil producers get good news these days, so BP must be doubly pleased with the reprieve it's been issued by a US court, which ruled yesterday that the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill was quite a lot smaller than originally thought. A judge ruled that 3.2 million barrels of [...]
Davey urges review of North Sea oil sector after BP cuts 300 jobs January 15, 2015 ENERGY secretary Ed Davey yesterday demanded an urgent review into the state of the North Sea oil industry, after a collapse in prices that has prompted BP and other companies to cut hundreds of jobs. Speaking after meeting oil company representatives in Aberdeen, Davey said he had asked Andy Samuel, the chief executive designate of [...]
Government commissions “urgent review” into North Sea oil after BP job cuts January 15, 2015 The fall in oil prices may be good for consumers at the pumps, but the oil industry is suffering. Malcolm Webb, the head of lobby group oil and Gas UK, called for a 50 per cent cut in North Sea taxes after BP announced it would be cutting 300 jobs in Aberdeen, and the energy [...]