AT A GLANCE: BP Shares Rise; Dividend Suspension Considered

11th Jun 2010 17:54

THE NEWS: BP PLC (BP BP.LN) shares are up in the U.S. Friday as investors regained some confidence that the oil company could deal with the political and financial costs stemming from the oil spill that began April 20. Meanwhile, BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said Thursday the company might suspend the company's dividend, following withering criticism from U.S. officials over paying shareholders when oil spill liabilities remain unknown. POLITICAL PRESSURE: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said Friday that BP must compensate business owners and workers in the Gulf Coast region for their lost earnings before it pays a dividend to shareholders. Late Thursday, the White House said BP board chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg and "any appropriate officials from BP" have been invited to a meeting June 16 with senior administration officials. Obama will attend a portion of the meeting, according to Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, head of the federal response. CAMERON'S RESPONSE: U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron told Chairman Svanberg Friday that it was in everyone's interests that BP remains a strong, stable company. Cameron's spokesman added the prime minister said "he was frustrated and concerned about the environmental damage," but also "made clear his view that BP is an economically important company in the U.K., U.S. and other countries." Cameron is expected to discuss BP and the fallout from the spill in a weekend call with President Barack Obama. MARKET ACTION: U.S.-listed BP shares continued gaining ground Friday, after they reached a 14-year low Wednesday. The stock traded recently at $33.83, gaining 3.2%, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Standard & Poor's 500 indexes were each down less than 1%. The London-listed shares were up 7.2%. THE COLLECTION EFFORT: BP captured 15,400 barrels of oil Friday, a decrease of 400 barrels a day from Thursday. As of Thursday, crews had sprayed 798,000 gallons of chemicals to disperse the oil at the surface and injected another 346,000 gallons under water to break it up near the sea floor. In 142 controlled fires, crews also burned an estimated 3.62 million gallons of oil on open water. About one-third of the Gulf remains closed to fishing. THE NEXT STEP IN COLLECTION: BP hopes to increase its daily collection rate to 40,000 to 50,000 barrels of oil by the end of this month or early July, U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Friday. ESTIMATE OF HOW MUCH OIL IS BEING SPILLED: On Thursday, the director of the U.S. Geological Survey said the oil well was likely spewing out between 20,000 and 40,000 barrels a day before BP partially contained the flow earlier this month. That is up from a May 27 estimate of 12,000 to 19,000 barrels a day, and an initial estimate of just 1,000 barrels a day. WHAT THEY SAID: "We've thrown a monkey wrench into that ecosystem," said marine oil-spill scientist Chris Reddy at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. "There are uncertainties about the long- and short-term impacts." "BP shares now have as much upside potential as the rest of the European integrated oil sector," Goldman Sachs analysts said. "We are considering all options on the dividend. But no decision has been made," BP chief Hayward said. "My hope and my advice to Mr. Hayward is that he spend a lot less time on hyperbole and a lot more time on trying to solve the problem," White House senior adviser David Axelrod said. "It's going to be hard, given the damage that's been inflicted on the people, the ecology of that region, the economy of that region...for him to play the victim." Dow Jones Newswires' coverage includes: UK Cameron Tells BP Chairman `Frustrated' At Oil Spill Damage Pelosi: BP Must Compensate Gulf Residents Before Paying Dividends WSJ: BP Oil Spill May Harbor Unique Biological, Health Hazards WSJ: BP Weighs Dividend Cut, Estimate Of Spill Size Is Raised As UK Defends Oil Giant WSJ/The Source: BP Dividend Woes Will Force Fund Managers To Look Overseas MARKET TALK: Goldman Takes A Fresh Look At BP, Sees Upside WSJ: UK's Cameron Hasn't Changed View Gulf Oil Spill Clegg Warns Against "Spat" With US Over Oil Spill UK Press Blasts US President Obama Over BP 'Attacks' Louisianans Make Emotional Plea For Help With Oil Spill WSJ(6/11) BP's Liability For Lost Wages In Doubt Caribbean Officials Worry Oil Spill May Reach Pristine Shores BP's Trading Counterparties Don't Share Investors' Fears -For additional coverage, please search on the corporate code BP -By Jeff McCulley, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2067 (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 11, 2010 12:54 ET (16:54 GMT)