BP to hold dividend payout

[Mid]

BP to hold dividend payout
Jun 14, 2010


BP placed a containment cap on its blown-out seabed well this month, but oil continues to gush into the ocean, polluting beaches and wildlife habitats, killing marine life and threatening tourism and fishing.
PHOTO: AFP

NEW ORLEANS (Louisiana) - BP FACED renewed pressure from the United States yesterday to do more to contain the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, as the US and Britain played down diplomatic tensions over the crisis.

While the company raced to meet a 48-hour deadline by the US Coast Guard in a letter made public on Saturday, it also faced calls to suspend its dividend payout to shareholders due on July 27.

Some US lawmakers had demanded that BP suspend its dividend - currently valued at about US$10.5 billion (S$14.7 billion) annually - until the Gulf crisis is resolved and damages are paid to individuals and businesses in the region.

'BP will decide on its own dividend, of course,' British Foreign Secretary William Hague told the BBC yesterday, when asked whether it would have to consult US politicians on its payout.

Yesterday, US President Barack Obama's political adviser, Mr David Axelrod, told NBC television that the President will demand BP create an escrow account with 'substantial' reserves to pay claims by businesses and individuals and is readying aid packages for the region.

The White House wants an independent, third party to administer the account and compensate those with 'legitimate' claims for damages, he said. -- AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS

straitstimes.com

Question has to be asked , Will BP survive Deepwater Horizon?

.

[Attilla the Hen]

Considering that BP made 5.6 billion dollars net profit last quarter and they have plentiful cash reserves, of course they will survive as long as their share price doesn't collapse and they become a target for a takeover.

[thehighlander959]

If the jingoistic claptrap from the US Government and Media ceases, there is no reason that BP should not survive.

Just a note BP have not admitted any liability up until now. And I don,t see them admitting any in the near future. I would be more worried if I was employed by Transocean (the market leader in drilling Swiss based) Haliburton (the biggest offshore cement contractor Dubai UAE based) and Cameron(the US manufacturer of the BOP ie.Blow Out Preventer US based)

Another name that might be going into the mix here is a company called
Reading & Bates Corporation. Could there have been a design fault?? Possible!!
They designed the Platform which was built by Hyundai in Korea.

[fiddler]

I think the lawsuits will run into the hundreds of billions.
They will lose but of course will appeal for decades but eventually will go under because of this crap. As they should.
Let them pay a dollar for every fish that will be killed, not to mention birds, animals, people's lives thru the toxic chemicals they are dumping on the problem.

[Number 42]

It's impossible to put a price on the clean up and damage to environment and peoples livelyhoods yet. The shit is STILL leaking ffs!

Step one.) fix the leak!!

[pet coon]

If the jingoistic claptrap from the US Government and Media ceases, there is no reason that BP should not survive.

Just a note BP have not admitted any liability up until now. And I don,t see them admitting any in the near future. I would be more worried if I was employed by Transocean (the market leader in drilling Swiss based) Haliburton (the biggest offshore cement contractor Dubai UAE based) and Cameron(the US manufacturer of the BOP ie.Blow Out Preventer US based)

Another name that might be going into the mix here is a company called
Reading & Bates Corporation. Could there have been a design fault?? Possible!!
They designed the Platform which was built by Hyundai in Korea.

First you say that BP is the one liable (past post) and now the service contractor's employees should be worried. As far as a design fault question on the rig, are you a lawyer or a rig design engineer, or a share holder of BP? I think BP has admited liability. thus the monetary expenditures made to date, with a huge amount yet to follow. Halliburton, Transocean, Cameron will probably be named defendants in personnel injury/death suits, but you forgot the owners of the work/crew boats and the tugs used to tow the rig into place, as well as helicopter transport, catering company etc, etc. A man once told me that a little understanding can be worse than complete ignorance on some topics.

[thehighlander959]

^
Link please show me where BP admitted liability> So they have taken the blame? Please show me where a multi national company has said that we are responsible for this catastrophic situation..

I await you answer. And a link!!!

[thehighlander959]

Never admit liability to anything!! Just ask Exxon or Esso whatever you ant to call them, they never admitted any liability in Alaska read the books and wake up.

[thehighlander959]

BP are obligated as the client to ensure the clean-up is performed as per the request of the US government.
However they have never admitted any blame for this oil spill.
As I said in another post this situation has got a few more rounds to go.

If you are working for Transocean, Haliburton, Cameron or possibly the Reading and Bates Corporation who are the the rig designers I think your job is on a shaky nail.

Note above all the companies above were originally American Oil Field Support companies.
The buck should stop at poor Rig Management.
Yes and I have been on an FPSO where the OIM told the Client Rep your wrong back off now... you are endangering my FPSO.That was the end of the conversation.

[bretby]

I think the lawsuits will run into the hundreds of billions.
They will lose but of course will appeal for decades but eventually will go under because of this crap. As they should.
Let them pay a dollar for every fish that will be killed, not to mention birds, animals, people's lives thru the toxic chemicals they are dumping on the problem.

There is a US law which is called the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, the operators of the offshore rig face no more than $75 million in liability for the damages that might be claimed by individuals, companies or the government, although they are responsible for the cost of containing and cleaning up the spill.

BP will of course survive this and in a few years time it will all be forgotten by the majority of people, and only the local people who have been affected by this unfortunate accident will be talking about it.

[BillyBobThai]

Now is the time to buy BP stock as the cost has dropped by 50%.

[raycarey]

Now is the time to buy BP stock as the cost has dropped by 50%.

perhaps.
but trying to catch a falling knife can be dangerous.

[Jet Gorgon]

If the jingoistic claptrap from the US Government and Media ceases, there is no reason that BP should not survive.

Sad but true. A 3rd party to administer relief payouts (why do I sniff a union in there skimming cash?). BP has said from the start that it will pay, so the continued harping about this redundant.
Never mind the div, the share price slash has already cleared a pile from pension funds. obama's BP bashing is just a cover for his incompetence.

[pet coon]

^
Link please show me where BP admitted liability> So they have taken the blame? Please show me where a multi national company has said that we are responsible for this catastrophic situation..

I await you answer. And a link!!!

I stand corrected, no admission of liability from BP, Responsibility , note statement to Dow Jones newsletter, May 3, 2010, where BP takes responsibility for clean up .

The Senate Energy & Natural Reserves hearing , Hayward again took responsibility for the clean up and associated costs.
But you are correct BP has not publicly taken responsibility for the oil well blowout, nor the oil leaking into the GOM, but have for the clean up, retrieval of oil at the well and across the Gulf, etc. Are you from Missouri? No matter you have been shown....

[thehighlander959]

^
No link I thought so. BP, Transocean, Haliburton, Cameron and any other companies involved in the operation of this platform will never admit liability.

Liability will only come from a decision made by the courts in the USA.

Just a small point BP have only recently begun to measure accurately the loss of oil at the damaged well head.
This is significant because when it comes to the court case they can say we dont know how much oil was lost in the first six weeks of the spill.
When the US government say in court this is how much oil was spilled.
BP.s lawyers will just say prove it here right now!! Show me your figures...

[pet coon]

^
No link I thought so. BP, Transocean, Haliburton, Cameron and any other companies involved in the operation of this platform will never admit liability.

Liability will only come from a decision made by the courts in the USA.

Just a small point BP have only recently begun to measure accurately the loss of oil at the damaged well head.
This is significant because when it comes to the court case they can say we dont know how much oil was lost in the first six weeks of the spill.
When the US government say in court this is how much oil was spilled.
BP.s lawyers will just say prove it here right now!! Show me your figures...

My mistake the 2 links of admission of responsibility, plus the withholding of dividend payment???? applied against the P&L, if true, are prior to judgment of liability via the court system. You can word it any way you want but BP has admited responsibility and is paying out the dollars, the liability of BP which will come thru the court system, fines, etc, (I will not argue your statement as this is what I said several weeks ago) will probably make the expense (to BP so far) look like pocket change. It would be nice if you would respond to my entire post and not the portion you want to pull out (I linked admitted responsibility as per BP). A oil field lawyer or an experienced, knowledgeable oily, you do not appear to be, so its not worth the time or effort to try to have a discussion or enlighten you.

[thehighlander959]

Yes and I have been on an FPSO where the OIM told the Client Rep your wrong back off now... you are endangering my FPSO.That was the end of the conversation

See post 09.

BP are paying a dividend to their shareholders as far as I know.
The same as the banks on Wall Street ignored the government when Goldman Sachs and other heavy hitters payed out their bonuses to their poorly treated staff after the financial meltdown caused by Wall Street greed and incompetence.

[pet coon]

Not knowing the relevance of your being on a FPSO to the transocean drilling vessel, the blowout, fire, and the present situation, nor the comparison of the greed and incompetence of wall street to BP, I will not comment on their contribution to the topic, "will BP survive"

[Muadib]

The estimated number of BPD (barrels per day) of crude being pumped out of the well has just been upgraded to 60,000 BPD... This is far and beyond any previous estimates... Based on the penalties laid out by the Clean Water Act, BP is liable, as of today, for nearly $100 Billion USD in penalties alone... This does not include any cleanup or recovery costs... Paying dividends is the least of their problems...

[thehighlander959]

Not knowing the relevance of your being on a FPSO to the transocean drilling vessel, the blowout, fire, and the present situation, nor the comparison of the greed and incompetence of wall street to BP, I will not comment on their contribution to the topic, "will BP survive"

The relevance is that at any time the OIM can tell the Client Rep or Company Man to back off, if he feels that the decisions being made onboard on behalf of the client are endangering his vessel/platform and workforce.

The Client Rep is there as the representative of the Oil Company in an advisory capacity. The OIM is the man in charge and is Captain of the Rig/FPSO normally the buck stops with him.

[pet coon]

I have heard nothing where anyone told the rig pusher that any one thing being proposed/done constituted endangerment to the rig or people on it. Your second paragraph seems to make a statement until you insert the word normally.

I do not know how many drilling contracts you have been privy to or signed but I think you will find you are in error as to where the buck stops on offshore drilling rigs. You confusion may come from your frequent reference to FPSO which is not what Transocean had on location. The company man (Bp employee) is the company while on location, in practice and theory both. They hired the rig with support personal for the purpose of drilling a well using a BP drilling/casing/ plan.

[Norton]

Liability will only come from a decision made by the courts in the USA.

Agree. I'm not familiar with the prime/sub contractor make up of the oil business but if BP is the prime contractor then they will be liable to pay as per decisions made by US courts. The degree to which BP's subcontractors are liable will be between BP and the subcontractor in separate litigation.

None will admit specific amount of liability but BP as the prime contractor are responsible for paying for all as judged by US court decisions.

[sabang]

BP are a screaming buy. I believe they are mulling suspending their dividend- my vote would be not to. They do not have a lot of debt, and by suspending the dividend they just make themselves more of a Takeover target.

[thehighlander959]

Just for Pet Coon...

I once worked for Chevron Texaco in Angola, they had an FPSO on lease from a Monaco based company drilling and producing in Block 16 Offshore. This was not an exploratory rig like the Deepwater Horizon.
This FPSO was drilling and producing in the region of 85,000bbls per day, an offload every ten days via a CALM Buoy. With me so far????

The Company Man onboard I knew very well from a previous assignment in the North Sea. We were having a discussion one day as to the modifications and commissioning of of some new equipment which was requested by the Client and was deemed suitable to improve production by the Drilling Contractor.

I asked him where does the buck stop in the event of a catastrophic event. His words were "Touch wood I hope that we never see this on this FPSO"
all I will say is that I am not in command of this vessel the vessel belongs to ------
The OIM makes all the decisions on here and informs me to ask if I have any objections or problems concerning Safe Working Operations. And whether we are following the guidelines set in the Safe Working Procedures and all JSA (Job Safety Analysis) and Risk Assessments are being adhered too.

[pet coon]

BP is probably looking very hard at options they have or can find to protect themselves financially against claims via US government agencies. , if even possible. The numbers being bandied around are enormous and will continue to grow as the legal profession increasingly slither out from their rocks. As big as BP is and even with their large legal department and financial backing I foresee their being overwhelmed by the legal filing both in monetary sums and physical count.It is really too bad as BP has done a lot of positive things. This could also have a real negative outcome for retirees and current employees.