London pre-open: BP and Anadarko reach agreement

17th Oct 2011 07:19

London looks set to start the week on the front foot, with City sources predicting a near 50 point rise at the outset.Integrated oil giant BP has reached agreement with Anadarko Petroleum to settle all claims between the companies related to the Deepwater Horizon accident. Anadarko, which had a 25% interest in the Macondo prospect, will pay BP $4bn in a single cash payment. BP will apply the payment to the $20bn trust it established that is available to meet individual, business and government claims, as well as the cost of the natural resource damages. Anadarko will also transfer all of its 25% interest in the MC252 (Macondo) lease to BP.Security solutions group G4S saw continued strong performances in new markets and stable growth in developed markets in the third quarter. In the first nine months of 2011 overall revenues grew by 4% at actual exchange rates compared to the same period last year and by 5% at constant exchange rates. The group operating margin was slightly lower than the same period in 2010 at both actual and constant exchange rates.Mining giant Rio Tinto is streamlining its Aluminium product group following a strategic review. Thirteen assets will be divested at an appropriate point in the future, and some of these will be managed separately in the meantime. Rio Tinto's interests in six Australian and New Zealand assets will transfer into a new business unit, to be called Pacific Aluminium, and be managed and reported separately from the Rio Tinto Alcan product group prior to divestment. A second group of seven non-core assets will continue to be managed by Rio Tinto Alcan while it further investigates divestment options