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BP Withdrawing Some Staff From Libya

Sun, 12 May 2013 14:08:57 EDT

LONDON -- Oil company BP says it is temporarily withdrawing some nonessential and non-Libyan staff from its office in Libya's capital following similar action by Britain's Foreign Office.

David Nicholas, a BP spokesman, said the move is "a precautionary measure" on advice from the Foreign Office. He wouldn't say how many staff will be affected but stressed that the Tripoli office remains open.

The U.K. Foreign Office said Friday it was temporarily withdrawing some staff from its embassy in Tripoli in light of recent political unrest. ...

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Chesapeake Energy Director Resigns

Sat, 04 May 2013 09:18:25 EDT

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Chesapeake Energy Corp. said Friday that Thomas L. Ryan has been chosen to join the company's board of directors, taking the seat of Louis A. Simpson, who has resigned.

Ryan is president and chief executive of Service Corp. International , which operates a network of funeral homes and cemeteries.

Ryan will stand for election at the company's annual meeting of shareholders on June 14. He has already been appointed to the board's audit committee, replacing R. Brad Martin, who is becoming chair of the nominating, corporate governance and social responsibility committee. ...

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Shareholders Oust Occidental Chairman

Sat, 04 May 2013 08:37:21 EDT

LOS ANGELES -- The chairman of Occidental Petroleum Corp. , who drew criticism over his compensation as CEO, is out.

Ray R. Irani will step down and be replaced by a former diplomat, Occidental announced Friday after its annual meeting. Shareholders cast their shares against him by more than a 3-to-1 margin.

Irani was chairman and CEO from 1990 to 2011 and became executive chairman in May 2011. ...

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GE to Buy Lufkin Industries in $3.3B Cash Deal (Update 4)

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:38:05 EDT

Updated from 1:38 p.m. ET, with comments from Jim Cramer and Credit Suisse analyst Julian Mitchell, market close information, expectations for GE's first-quarter results, as well as GE's updated stock valuation and performance.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- General Electric on Monday announced an agreement to purchase Lufkin Industries in a cash deal valued at $3.3 billion.

Lufkin's shareholders will receive $88.50 share, or a 38% premium over the target company's closing share price of $63.93 on Friday. The deal is expected to be completed in the second half of 2013. ...

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Sinopec, Parent in $3 Billion Deal

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 18:09:19 EDT

BEIJING (TheStreet) -- China Petroleum & Chemical is forming a joint venture with parent China Petrochemical that will acquire $3 billion in oil and gas assets owned by the parent.

China Petroleum & Chemical, also known as Sinopec Corp., will exercise effective control over the 50-50 joint venture and will provide about $1.5 billion of the funds used to make the acquisition, the company said Sunday in its 2012 annual report.

The parent, China Petrochemical, is owned by the Chinese government and holds a majority stake in Sinopec Corp. ...

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Energy Transfer Gains on ETP Holdco Deal

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:01:26 EDT

HOUSTON (The Deal) -- To simplify a structure that has confounded investors, Dallas oil and gas transportation, processing and storage provider Energy Transfer Partners LP said Thursday, March 21, it would buy the 60% stake in ETP Holdco Corp. it doesn't own from affiliate Energy Transfer Equity LP for $3.75 billion in cash and units.

Shares of Energy Transfer were rising 2% to $49.49 mid-day on Thursday.

The transaction includes $2.35 billion of newly issued ETP units and $1.4 billion in cash. ETE, which owns all of ETP's incentive distribution rights, agreed to forego IDR payments on the newly issued ETP units for the first eight quarters beginning with the quarter in which the closing of the transaction occurs. For eight quarters after that, ETE will collect only half of the IDR payments. The partnerships expect to complete the deal in the second quarter. ...

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Weatherford Gains as Raymond James Sees Undervalued Shares

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:42:29 EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Weatherford International was gaining Thursday after analysts at Raymond James upgraded one of the world's largest oilfield services companies to "outperform" from "underperform."

Shares of the Geneva-based company, which operates in 100 countries and employs more than 50,000 people, were rising 0.2% to $11.48 in midday trading Thursday.

Weatherford, which had faced deep headaches over its internal controls, had sputtered in recent weeks, analysts John Freeman and Kyle Schornick said in a note Wednesday, its shares having fallen 14% since Feb. 1. As signs point to improving financials, there are now "reasons to get more bullish," according to Raymond James. ...

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Oil is Jumping as Anadarko, ConocoPhillips and Marathon Pop on Big Discovery

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 12:25:07 EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Anadarko Petroleum was jumping Wednesday after the U.S. oil and gas company announced a huge oil discovery.

Anadarko said yesterday after the market closed that it had discoved reservoirs of oil-containing rock within its Shenandoah-2 well deep in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The discovery ranks among the producer's largest ever off the shores of Texas and Louisiana.

Anadarko was gaining 3.3% to $86.04 by the early afternoon. ...

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Oil Stuck Under $96

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 09:33:07 EST

By Pablo Gorondi

The price of oil hovered below $96 a barrel Monday, weighed by data released late last week, which showed that U.S. industrial production weakened and Europe remained mired in recession.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for March delivery was down 17 cents to $95.69 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.45 on Friday....

Transocean Stock Jumps After Admitting Criminal Charges in Gulf Oil Spill

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:53:53 EST

Updated to include analyst comments from Credit Suisse and Wells Fargo

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Rig maker Transocean has plead guilty to a misdemeanor criminal violation of the Clean Water Act and will pay $1.4 billion in fines to settle criminal and civil claims with the U.S. Department of Justice related to a 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which was the worst manmade environmental disaster in U.S. history.

Transocean's fine follows BP's $4.5 billion settlement with U.S. regulators, which also led to guilty pleas on 11 felony counts and manslaughter charges for two of the British oil giant's employees. ...

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Freeport's Energy Deal: The Real Reason Behind It

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:05:02 EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- There were a number of points to examine regarding Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold's $9 billion purchase of two energy companies. Sadly, it doesn't appear that the Corporate Media has latched on to any of them.

One report characterized the deal as:

... a bold bid to diversify into the U.S. energy sector as copper's prospects wane. ...

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BP Gets Biggest Criminal Fine After Biggest U.S. Oil Spill

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:52:39 EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- BP will pay the U.S. government $4.5 billion over a span of years to settle criminal claims against the British oil giant resulting from its April 2010 Macondo well oil spill, called the largest manmade environmental disaster in U.S. history.

In addition to what amounts to the largest-ever criminal settlement with federal authorities, BP said it will plead guilty to 11 felony counts and two of its employees will face criminal manslaughter charges for their role in the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

"All of us at BP deeply regret the tragic loss of life caused by the Deepwater Horizon accident as well as the impact of the spill on the Gulf coast region," Bob Dudley, BP's chief executive, said in a statement. " We apologize for our role in the accident, and as today's resolution with the U.S. government further reflects, we have accepted responsibility for our actions," he added. ...

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Energy Stocks Face Their Own Fiscal Cliff

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 11:04:29 EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- While the battle between Democrats and Republicans for the White House and Congress is very much up in the air, investors in the energy sector should prepare to fall off a fiscal cliff, regardless of how the vote unfolds in November.

Energy investors should prepare for integrated oil and gas giants -- and independent drillers -- to be constrained by high debts and spending levels, that may force CEO's to rein in exploration budgets sharply in 2013, impacting earnings across the sector.

Notably, as drillers try to extract what's been deemed a hundred year shale oil and gas resource, Chesapeake Energy has spent much of 2012 selling assets to meet a $14 billion cash crunch, in last-ditch financial moves that may speak to wider industry pressures as firms try to balance drilling budgets with earnings and debt levels. ...

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BP Backs Deal to Swap TNK-BP for Rosneft Stake

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 13:08:02 EDT

By Raphael Satter

LONDON -- The board of U.K. energy company BP PLC has struck a deal to swap its profitable but troublesome Russian oil venture TNK-BP for a big stake in Rosneft, the Kremlin-controlled energy company, a person familiar with the matter said Sunday.

The person said that the sale of BP's half of TNK-BP was expected to net the company between $10 to $15 billion in cash as well as a 15% to 20% stake in Rosneft, Russia's largest producer of oil. ...

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The Long, Slow Slog for Chesapeake Energy Begins

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 15:29:43 EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- If awards were given for the 2012 stock that excelled in the "bad company/good trade" category, Chesapeake Energy would be up there.

Now, though, after easy money made by Carl Icahn and others, culminating in Chesapeake selling assets to cover a funding gap that had the company trading in a "death spiral" earlier this year, the stock is no longer a distressed play. From here on out, investors will find it difficult to eke out gains.

And so the long, slow slog for Chesapeake Energy begins. ...

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