BP Chief Says Worst Is Over
BP is piling up assets with more than $3 billion of deals in three days as CEO Bob Dudley sees the company emerging from the doldrums after a two-year price slump.
Since Saturday, BP has announced a $2.2 billion expansion of output in Abu Dhabi and a $916 million investment in fields in Mauritania and Senegal. That brings its 2016 acquisitions to more than $3.8 billion, the highest in four years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The spending spree may herald a return to growth for Dudley, who has spent most of his six-year tenure divesting assets to pay for the catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010, for which BP set aside more than $50 billion. Europe’s No. 3 oil company, a third smaller since then, plans to start seven or eight major projects next year as crude prices recover from their worst collapse in a generation.
“It’s time for BP to start growing,” Dudley, 61, said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Abu Dhabi. “We’ve walked through so many difficulties in the US that I think the company now is well-positioned for growth.”
BP shares have risen almost 40% this year. Notwithstanding a slide in the next few weeks, that would mark the stock’s best year since 1993. Its larger European competitors have also performed well, with Royal Dutch Shell adding almost 50% and Total SA about 16%. “The market was questioning their ability to grow post-2020 and these are the resource-sustenance deals they were looking for. The timing of these deals is also interesting, coming at a time oil prices are rising," said Brendan Warn, a managing director at BMO Capital Markets in London.
In a further sign of confidence, BP this month approved the $9-billion expansion of its Mad Dog deepwater project in the Gulf of Mexico, not far from the site of the oil spill.
BP says it can cover spending and dividends without having to borrow at a price of $50 to $55 next year, down from an earlier estimate of $60.
source: Financial Tribune
Top News
Six last month
Iran Alloy Steel Company intends to purchase 12 tons of ferrotungsten through public tender
Iran Alloy Steel Company intends to purchase 150 tons of Low-Carbon Ferro Manganese through public tender
Gold price faces worst week since 2021 as Fed signals no rate-cut rush
Gold loses some luster after Trump’s decisive win
Iron ore price flirts with key $100/t level on firm demand, China stimulus hopes
Hedge funds slash bullish wagers on gold over Trump election win
Resolute Mining says it will pay Mali $160 million in tax dispute
Families gather at South African mine shaft where hundreds are feared stuck underground
Higher silver supply to reduce global deficit by 4% in 2024
Sierra Leone woos miners to clean energy with $11 billion plan
Alrosa plans production cuts and staff reduction for 2025
Chile’s rare salt flat fish face threat from lithium mining project
Endeavour Silver raises $73m for Pitarrilla project
BHP to spend up to $14 billion on Chilean copper expansion
Chile’s rare salt flat fish faces threat from lithium mining project
British Columbia creates new mining ministry to tackle critical minerals amid doubts over capacity
China’s germanium, gallium ban could cost the US $3.4 billion
South Africa police standoff with illegal gold miners escalates
Iran Alloy Steel Company intends to purchase 150 tons of Low-Carbon Ferro Manganese through public tender
Iran Alloy Steel Company intends to purchase 12 tons of ferrotungsten through public tender
Iran Alloy Steel Company intends to purchase 150 tons of Low-Carbon Ferro Manganese through public tender
Sierra Leone woos miners to clean energy with $11 billion plan
Alrosa plans production cuts and staff reduction for 2025
Chile’s rare salt flat fish face threat from lithium mining project
Endeavour Silver raises $73m for Pitarrilla project
Chile’s rare salt flat fish faces threat from lithium mining project
British Columbia creates new mining ministry to tackle critical minerals amid doubts over capacity
Newmont sells Ontario gold mine to Orla for $850 million
