BP In Talks To Issue Up To $10 Billion In Debt -CNBC's Kelly

17th Jun 2010 17:16

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) is in talks with five Wall Street banks, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS), to issue a debt offering intended to raise between $5 billion and $10 billion for the spill-tainted oil giant, CNBC's Kate Kelly reports Thursday. BP, as early as next week, may issue commercial paper with a term of five years and possibly as long as 10 years, Kelly says. Spreads, or risk premiums, on credit default swaps involving BP have risen sharply of late due to investors' fears of a possible default event. On Wednesday, the cost of insuring BP-issued debt against default soared to a record 600 basis points after President Barack Obama said in a televised address that the company would be forced to put funds into an escrow account to pay damage claims stemming from BP's leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico. BP has agreed to set aside about $20 billion for the fund. Website: www.cnbc.com -Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2900 Order free Annual Report for BP plc Visit http://djnewswires.ar.wilink.com/?link=BP or call 1-888-301-0513 (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 17, 2010 12:16 ET (16:16 GMT)