Jan 3

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BP Seeks Recovery of All Spill Damages, Costs From Halliburton

BP Plc (BP/) seeks to have Halliburton Co. (HAL), its cement contractor for the Macondo well project whose blowout set off the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, pay all of the oil company’s related costs and damages.
BP had paid more than $21 billion in cleanup costs and economic damages to individuals, businesses and governments harmed by the spill as of Dec. 1, the company said on its website. BP reserved more than $40 billion to cover costs related to the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig (RIG).
The oil company seeks “the amount of costs and expenses incurred by BP to clean up and remediate the oil spill, the lost profits from and/or diminution in value of the Macondo prospect, and all other costs and damages incurred by BP related to the Deepwater Horizon incident and resulting oil spill,” Don Haycraft, BP’s lead trial attorney, said in a filing yesterday in federal court in New Orleans.
BP and Halliburton accuse each other’s employees of making critical mistakes that caused the blowout of the London-based oil company’s well off the Louisiana coast in 2010. The explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon killed 11 workers and caused the worst offshore spill in U.S. history.

500 Lawsuits
BP, which owned the Macondo lease, and Halliburton, which provided well-completion services for the project, jointly face more than 500 lawsuits by coastal property owners, businesses and governments claiming billions of dollars in damages from the drifting oil. The lawsuits have been combined for pretrial processing in federal court in New Orleans, where a judge is scheduled to begin a trial in February to determine liability for the spill.
Halliburton, based in Houston, has said in court papers that its cementing-services contract requires BP to indemnify it from all damage claims, even if its employees were found to have shared blame for the disaster.
BP, rejecting that argument, accused Halliburton in yesterday’s filing of gross negligence. That level of misconduct “will suffice to eliminate any indemnity obligation for damages of any kind,” Haycraft said in the filing.
Halliburton has said in court filings that the actions of BP’s employees caused the explosion on the rig.
“Halliburton believes it is fully indemnified by BP against any loss resulting from the Macondo incident and any penalties arising from the violations,” Beverly Stafford, a spokeswoman for the company, said yesterday in an e-mail.

Transocean, Mitsui
The defendants in the lawsuits over the spill also include Switzerland-based Transocean Ltd. (RIG), the owner of the Deepwater Horizon; Cameron International Corp. (CAM), the maker of the blow-out prevention equipment used on the well; Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC), which owned 25 percent of the Macondo prospect; and Mitsui & Co.’s Moex Offshore LLC unit, which owned a 10 percent stake in the well.
Cameron, Anadarko and Mitsui have reached settlements with BP. Transocean, along with Halliburton, hasn’t.
The case is In Re Oil Spill by the Oil Rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, MDL-2179, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans).
　

Department of Justice February 17, 2012　

Moex Offshore Agrees to $90 Million Partial Settlement of Liability in Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
$70 Million Penalty Is Largest Under the Clean Water Act; Moex Also to Perform Gulf Conservation Projects Worth at Least $20 Million

MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC has agreed to settle its liability in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in a settlement with the United States valued at $90 million, announced the Department of Justice, the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today. Approximately $45 million of the $90 million settlement is going directly to the Gulf in the form of penalties or expedited environmental projects.
According to the terms of the settlement, MOEX will pay $70 million in civil penalties to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Water Act resulting from the spill and agreed to spend $20 million to facilitate land acquisition projects in several Gulf states that will preserve and protect in perpetuity habitat and resources important to water quality and other environmental features of the Gulf of Mexico region. At the time of the spill, MOEX was a minority investor in the lease for the Macondo well. It no longer owns any share of the lease.

The terms of today’s settlement do not affect the potential liability of – or recoveries from – other parties involved in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Beginning with a well blowout and explosion on April 20, 2010, the owners and operators of the Macondo Well and the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon allowed millions of barrels of oil to escape into the Gulf of Mexico, affecting the entire region. Oil spills can cause both immediate and long-term harm to people’s health and the environment. The Clean Water Act provides for civil penalties for such discharges. This is the largest civil penalty ever recovered under the Clean Water Act.

“The Department of Justice has not wavered in its commitment to hold all responsible parties fully accountable for what stands as the largest oil spill in U.S. history,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “This landmark settlement is an important step – but only a first step – toward achieving accountability and protecting the future of the Gulf ecosystem by funding critical habitat preservation projects.”

“This will move the Gulf Coast along in its recovery as it continues to rebound from the largest spill in U.S. history,” said Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Bob Papp. “The settlement demonstrates our firm commitment to hold accountable those who pollute our environment.”

“This is good news for the Gulf Coast communities that are continuing to rebuild their economy and restore their ecosystem. This administration is going to stand with the people here to ensure a full recovery from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “Dedicating funds to actions that restore the local waters is a vital part of restoring these communities. As someone who grew up on the Gulf Coast, I know how important clean water is to the lives and livelihoods of the people here, and I know we need to take every possible action to get the ecosystem here on a path to long-term restoration.”

As part of the settlement, MOEX Offshore has agreed to pay $70 million in civil penalties, of which, $45 million will go to the United States. The money will go toward replenishing the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, where by law it will be available to pay for response actions, cleanup and damages caused by future spills. The remaining penalty will go to Gulf states that participate in the settlement. Those states will receive penalty payments as follows: $6.75 million to Louisiana, $5 million each to Alabama, Florida and Mississippi, and $3.25 million to Texas.

MOEX Offshore has also agreed to secure and protect properties of ecological significance for the Gulf habitats. MOEX Offshore will ensure that properties within the states of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Florida are transferred to – or acquired by – state governments, non-profit groups, land trusts or other appropriate entities, to protect those properties from development. In all, these projects are expected to cost at least $20 million. The negotiation process with MOEX included numerous discussions with the Gulf states, who have been indispensible in reaching this important agreement.

This settlement does not affect the government’s claims against any other defendant in the Deepwater Horizon lawsuit that was filed on Dec. 15, 2010. The trial of the first phase of the case is set to begin in federal district court in New Orleans on Feb. 27, 2012.

MOEX Offshore is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the MOEX USA Corporation. Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. Ltd. is the corporate parent of MOEX USA, which in turn is owned by Mitsui & Co. Ltd. of Japan.

The proposed settlement, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, is subject to a 30-day comment period and final court approval. Information on submitting comment is available at www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.

February 28, 2012 BP

BP Agrees to Sell Kansas Gas Production and Processing Asset

BP announced today that it has agreed to sell its interests in the Hugoton, Kansas, Jayhawk gas processing plant and associated producing gas fields in Kansas to an affiliate of LINN Energy, LLC.

Under the agreement, LINN Energy has agreed to pay BP $1.2bn in cash. Completion of the agreement is subject to closing conditions including the receipt of all necessary governmental and regulatory approvals. The sale is currently expected to complete on 30 March, 2012.

The agreement includes the sale of all of BP’s working interest in about 2,400 wells in the Hugoton natural gas field, as well as the Hugoton Jayhawk gas processing plant, which has a processing capacity of about 450 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscf/d). The majority of BP’s current net natural gas production of about 110 million cubic feet of gas equivalent in the area is processed through the plant.

BP group chief executive Bob Dudley said: “We are reshaping BP’s business around the world, focusing on our strengths and future growth opportunities. The sale of these mature assets will allow us to concentrate our efforts on our strong core positions in the U.S. and globally.”

In 2011, BP produced over 1,800 mmscf/d natural gas in the US. BP’s North America Gas business has a high quality portfolio of assets with a presence in 6 of the top 13 gas basins in the US Lower 48.

BP's operations center in Ulysses, Kansas is staffed by 120 employees. Most are expected to receive offers with LINN.

BP's growing presence in the wind business in Kansas will be unaffected by the sale.

LINN Energy Announces $1.2 Billion Acquisition of BP's Hugoton Basin Properties

LINN Energy, LLC announced today that it signed a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Hugoton Basin properties located in Kansas from BP America Production Company for a contract price of $1.2 billion, subject to closing conditions. The company anticipates the acquisition will close on or before March 30, 2012, and will be financed with proceeds from borrowings under its revolving credit facility.

"This acquisition marks our entry into the largest conventional natural gas field in the U.S., and it is an excellent fit for our business strategy," said Mark E. Ellis, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "This impactful transaction has a low decline rate of 7 percent and is expected to provide 110 million cubic feet equivalent of liquids-rich production that is 37 percent NGLs. This acquisition should be immediately accretive to distributable cash flow per unit and is expected to provide a very steady stream of cash flow with little requirement for capital investment. We also fully hedged for five years 100 percent of natural gas production and 68 percent of NGL production, utilizing natural gas puts."

Consistent with LINN's strategy to hedge production associated with acquisitions, the company entered into hedging contracts for 100 percent of the natural gas production associated with this transaction through 2016, or approximately five years. The company used a combination of 50 percent swaps and 50 percent puts to hedge the natural gas volumes, which preserves significant upside if natural gas prices rise. In addition, LINN hedged 68 percent of the NGL production through 2016, or approximately five years, utilizing natural gas puts.

Including this acquisition, LINN Energy has completed more than $4 billion of acquisitions in just over two years. To maintain adequate financial flexibility and liquidity in light of the company's greatly expanded size and scale, LINN recently received commitments from its lenders to increase its revolving credit facility from $1.5 billion to $2 billion, subject to final documentation.

LINN Energy's mission is to acquire, develop and maximize cash flow from a growing portfolio of long-life oil and natural gas assets. LINN Energy is a top-15 U.S. independent oil and natural gas development company, with approximately 4.1 Tcfe of proved reserves (pro forma for announced 2012 acquisition) in producing U.S. basins as of Dec. 31, 2011. More information about LINN Energy is available at www.linnenergy.com.

March 3, 2012 BP

BP announces settlement with PSC, subject to final written agreement, to resolve economic loss and medical claims from Deepwater Horizon accident and oil spill

Estimated $7.8B settlement expected to be paid from $20 billion Trust

BP has reached a settlement with the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee (PSC), subject to final written agreement, to resolve the substantial majority of legitimate economic loss and medical claims stemming from the Deepwater Horizon accident and oil spill. The PSC acts on behalf of individual and business plaintiffs in the Multi-District Litigation proceedings pending in New Orleans (MDL 2179).

"From the beginning, BP stepped up to meet our obligations to the communities in the Gulf Coast region, and we've worked hard to deliver on that commitment for nearly two years,” said Bob Dudley, BP Group CEO. "The proposed settlement represents significant progress toward resolving issues from the Deepwater Horizon accident and contributing further to economic and environmental restoration efforts along the Gulf Coast."

BP estimates that the cost of the proposed settlement, expected to be paid from the $20 billion Trust, would be approximately $7.8 billion. This includes a BP commitment of $2.3 billion to help resolve economic loss claims related to the Gulf seafood industry.

Prior to the proposed settlement, BP had spent more than $22 billion toward meeting its commitments in the Gulf. BP has paid out more than $8.1 billion to individuals, businesses and government entities. In addition, BP has spent approximately $14 billion on operational response.

This proposed settlement is not expected to result in any increase in the $37.2 billion charge (which included the $20 billion charge taken in respect of the Trust) previously recorded in BP’s financial statements. BP’s current expectation is that the provision for litigation and claims, which includes the claims covered by this proposed settlement, will increase by approximately $2.1 billion with no net impact to either the income or cash flow statements, because this is a settlement that is expected to be payable from the Trust.
The amount that can be further provided with no net impact to the income statement therefore is expected to be reduced from approximately $5.5 billion to approximately $3.4 billion.
While BP has sought to reliably estimate the cost of this proposed settlement, it is possible that the actual cost could be higher or lower than this estimate depending on the outcomes of the court-supervised claims processes. In accordance with its normal procedures, BP will re-evaluate the assumptions underlying this estimate on a quarterly basis as more information, including the outcomes of the court-supervised claims processes, becomes available.

The Trust was established to satisfy not only legitimate individual and business claims but also a number of other costs related to the accident and oil spill. Other costs to be paid from the Trust include state and local government claims, state and local response costs, natural resource damages and related claims, and final judgments and settlements. It is not possible at this time to determine whether the $20 billion Trust will be sufficient to satisfy all of these claims as well as those under the proposed settlement. Should the Trust not be sufficient, payments under the proposed settlement would be made by BP directly.

The proposed settlement does not include claims against BP made by the United States Department of Justice or other federal agencies (including under the Clean Water Act and for Natural Resource Damages under the Oil Pollution Act) or by the states and local governments. The proposed settlement also excludes certain other claims against BP, such as securities and shareholder claims pending in MDL 2185, and claims based solely on the deepwater drilling moratorium and/or the related permitting process.

The proposed settlement is comprised of two separate agreements, one to resolve economic loss claims and another to resolve medical claims. Each proposed agreement provides that class members would be compensated for their claims on a claims-made basis, according to agreed compensation protocols in separate court-supervised claims processes. The proposed agreement to resolve economic loss claims includes the financial commitment for the Gulf seafood industry and a fund to support continued advertising that promotes Gulf Coast tourism.

The proposed agreement to resolve medical claims involves payments based on a matrix for certain currently manifested physical conditions, as well as a 21-year medical consultation program for qualifying class members. It also provides that class members claiming later-manifested physical conditions may pursue their claims through a mediation/litigation process. Consistent with its commitment to the Gulf, BP would also provide $105 million to improve the availability, scope and quality of healthcare in Gulf communities. This healthcare outreach program would be available to all individuals in those communities, regardless of whether they are class members. It would include expanding capacity to address community health needs, including primary care, mental health services and access to environmental health specialists, as well as enhanced training and education related to Gulf Coast health issues.

Under the proposed settlement, class members would release and dismiss their claims against BP. The proposed settlement is not an admission of liability by BP.

The proposed settlement also provides that, to the extent permitted by law, BP will assign to the PSC certain of its claims, rights and recoveries against Transocean and Halliburton for damages not recoverable from BP.

The proposed settlement is subject to reaching definitive and fully-documented agreements within 45 days, and if those agreements are not reached, either party has the right to terminate the proposed settlement. Once there are definitive and fully-documented agreements, BP and the PSC would then seek the Court’s preliminary approval of the settlement. Under federal law, there is an established procedure for determining the fairness, reasonableness and adequacy of class action settlements. Pursuant to this procedure, and subject to the Court granting preliminary approval of both agreements, there would be extensive outreach to the public, including through advertisements and direct mail, to explain the settlement agreements, class members’ rights, including the right to “opt out” of the classes, and the processes for making claims. The Court would then conduct fairness hearings at which class members and various other parties would have an opportunity to be heard and present evidence. The Court would then decide whether or not to approve each proposed settlement agreement.

The proposed economic loss settlement provides for a transition from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) administered by Kenneth Feinberg. "Ken Feinberg has overseen the GCCF since it began operating in August 2010, and we thank him and his team for their dedication and professionalism," said Mr. Dudley. "During Mr. Feinberg's tenure, BP has paid approximately $6.1 billion to resolve more than 220,000 claims from individuals and businesses through the GCCF."

A court-supervised transitional claims process for economic loss claims will be in operation while the infrastructure for the new settlement claims process is put in place. During this transitional period, the processing of claims that have been submitted to the GCCF will continue, and new claimants may submit their claims.

Payments in class action settlements typically are not made until after final approval of a settlement, but BP has agreed not to wait for final approval of the economic loss settlement before claims are paid. The economic loss claims process will continue under court supervision before final approval of the settlement, first under the transitional claims process, and then through the settlement claims process established by the proposed economic loss agreement.

"This settlement reflects our commitment not only to the Gulf region, but also to the United States as a whole," said Mr. Dudley. "BP has operated in America for more than 100 years, employs nearly 23,000 people in the U.S., and invests more in the U.S. than in any other country."

The parties will seek guidance from the Court as to the schedule for future proceedings in MDL 2179.
　

BP Plc said it reached a $7.8 billion settlement with businesses and individuals over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster, removing one of three major litigation fronts facing the company over the biggest offshore spill in U.S. history.

BP said yesterday in a statement that the settlement will be paid out of a $20 billion trust set up to compensate spill victims. Lawyers for the plaintiffs said in a separate statement that settlement will resolve most private claims for economic loss, property damage and medical injuries. Plaintiffs lawyers said there wasn’t a cap on the total damages BP has to pay.

“This settlement will provide a full measure of compensation to hundreds of thousands,” Stephen J. Herman and James P. Roy, the plaintiffs’ co-liaison counsel, said in their statement. “It does the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people.”

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans yesterday ordered the adjournment of a trial scheduled to start March 5 to determine which companies were liable for the explosion aboard Transocean Ltd. (RIG)’s Deepwater Horizon rig off the coast of Louisiana and the resulting spill.

The proposed settlement terms will be submitted to the court for approval, the judge said. Barbier said in his order that he will schedule a status conference with lawyers to discuss issues raised by the settlement and set a new trial date.
‘Realignment’

“Such a settlement would likely result in a realignment of the parties in this litigation and require substantial changes to the current Phase 1 trial plan,” Barbier said in the one- page order, which didn’t disclose terms of the agreement.

If “definitive and fully documented agreements” aren’t reached within 45 days, either side has the right to terminate the proposed settlement, according to BP’s statement. The settlement will allow victims who aren’t satisfied with the deal to “opt out,” according to BP.

BP said in its statement that the proposed settlement won’t increase the $37.2 billion charge it previously recorded in its financial statements for spill costs. That figure includes the $20 billion BP has set aside for the trust fund, which will be used to pay spill damage claims and medical injury claims as well as “state and local government claims, state and local response costs, natural resources damages and related claims,” BP said.

BP’s Costs
So far, BP says it has spent more than $22 billion on the spill, which breaks down to $8.1 billion to individuals, businesses and government entities and $14 billion on operational response.

The proposed settlement, costing BP an estimated $7.8 billion in addition to those amounts, includes $2.3 billion earmarked for economic losses related to the seafood industry in the Gulf of Mexico, the company said.

The proposed settlement, according to BP, doesn’t include claims against the London-based company by the U.S. Justice Department for Clean Water Act violations or natural resource damages under the Oil Pollution Act.

The settlement also “excludes certain other claims against BP, such as securities and shareholder claims” pending in separate litigation consolidated in federal court in Houston.

The agreement will provide for a transition from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility trust, through which BP has paid about $6.1 billion for more than 220,000 claims from individuals and businesses, the company said.

Direct Payments
“It is not possible at this time to determine whether the $20 billion trust will be sufficient to satisfy all of these claims as well as those under the proposed settlement,” BP said. “Should the trust not be sufficient, payments under the proposed settlement would be made by BP directly.”

BP was in talks with lawyers for the spill victims over a $14 billion proposal to be funded with money set aside for out- of-court settlements, three people familiar with the matter previously said. Under that plan, BP would close the trust and shift the remaining funds to plaintiffs, said the people, who declined to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

11 Killed
The April 2010 Macondo well blowout destroyed the Deepwater Horizon, killed 11 workers and sent more than 4 million barrels of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico over three months. It spawned hundreds of suits against BP, Vernier, Switzerland-based Transocean, owner and operator of the rig, and Houston-based Halliburton Co. (HAL), provider of cementing services on site.

On Feb. 26, the day before trial in the case was to begin, Barbier delayed the case by a week so settlement talks could continue.

BP has also been in settlement talks with the federal government and the partner companies that also face liability for the spill, people familiar with those discussions have said.

The U.S. Clean Water Act lets the U.S. seek fines of as much as $1,100 for each barrel of oil spilled as a result of simple negligence, often described as a failure to exercise ordinary care. The maximum increases to $4,300 a barrel for gross negligence, or a conscious act or omission, leaving BP liable for as much as $17.6 billion in fines.

BP set aside $3.5 billion to pay Clean Water Act fines based on its own lower estimate of barrels spilled and no finding of gross negligence.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Feb. 28 that the U.S. has a “strong” case over liability for the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon.

“We are prepared to go to trial, we were ready to go to trial yesterday,” Holder said during testimony before a U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee in Washington.

‘Swift’ Compensation
“We are hopeful that the resolution of the private plaintiffs’ lawsuit will provide swift and sure compensation to those harmed by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill,” Wyn Hornbuckle, a Justice Department spokesman, said yesterday in an e-mail.

Barbier, who will preside over any trial, would decide whether BP can demand other companies involved in the spill pick up some of the estimated $26 billion in costs spawned by the destruction of the Deepwater Horizon.

“Delays or deals made by other players do not change the facts of this case and we are fully prepared to argue the merits of our case based on those facts,” Lou Colasuonno, a Transocean spokesman, said yesterday in an e-mailed statement about the settlement.

BP’s trust was set up to make emergency and other types of payments to spill victims under the U.S. Oil Pollution Act to speed up assistance and cut down on the number of claims filed in court.
‘Coercive Tactics’

Attorneys for some victims argued in court filings that officials of the fund, run by Washington-based lawyer Kenneth Feinberg, used “coercive tactics” to force business and property owners to accept inadequate payments for their claims and give up their rights to sue.

While lawyers for plaintiffs whose cases have been consolidated before Barbier proposed the settlement, attorneys for other spill victims may oppose it.

Brent Coon, a Houston-based lawyer representing spill victims both in federal and state courts, said in a Feb. 27 interview that he worried the $14 billion remaining in BP’s trust fund wouldn’t provide enough compensation for those harmed in the disaster.

Plaintiffs’ lawyers and the companies still haven’t been able to pin down the total number of claims tied to the spill because filing deadlines don’t expire for a year, he said.
Claims May ‘Double’

“The total claims could double from where they are now,” Coon said.

Another problem with the settlement proposal is lawyers for the steering committee don’t represent the majority of victims in the case, Coon said, which he said raises questions about their ability to act in the best interests of all claimants.

“A very small minority of lawyers are negotiating a deal that leaves them in control of the purse strings and let’s them dole it out,” he said. “I know a number of lawyers who are extraordinarily hostile to that idea.”

BP agreed in October to a $4 billion settlement with Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC), which owned a 25 percent stake in the Macondo well. It also agreed to drop claims against drilling fluid provider M-I Swaco, a unit of Houston-based Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB)
Flawed Tests

Transocean officials alleged in a Feb. 24 court filing that BP officials overseeing the well ignored questions about whether safety tests done hours before the blast were flawed.

Donald Vidrine, the senior BP manager on the Deepwater Horizon on April 20, 2010, talked with an engineer about unsatisfactory well tests less than an hour before the explosion, Transocean’s attorneys said.

While Mark Hafle, a Houston-based BP drilling engineer, warned Vidrine in a phone call that stability tests on the well might be flawed, “neither man stopped work” at the facility, Transocean said.

The BP officials allowed crews to continue displacing drilling fluid in the well with seawater, the attorneys for oil- drilling company said. Experts who reviewed the companies’ handling of the well noted that once the fluid was removed, the lighter seawater couldn’t stop natural gas from leaking into the well and causing an explosion.

Vidrine has refused to testify, citing medical-related problems and Hafle has invoked his constitutional protection against self-incrimination for refusing to testify.

The case is In re Oil Spill by the Oil Rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, MDL-2179, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans).

BP Announces Sale of Interests in Alba and Britannia Fields to Mitsui & Co., Ltd.

BP announced today that it has agreed to sell its interests in the Alba and Britannia fields in the UK North Sea to Mitsui & Co., Ltd. for $280m in cash.

The sale comprises BP’s non-operating 13.3% stake in Alba and 8.97% stake in Britannia. Completion of the deal is anticipated by the end of Q3 2012, subject to regulatory and other licensee approvals.

The agreement is a further example of BP’s active management of its business portfolio in the North Sea, focusing on core activities and future growth.

Trevor Garlick, regional president for BP North Sea, said: “The divestments are part of our strategy to develop a more focused business in the UK and Norway. BP has a multi-billion pound investment programme currently underway in the region, with four major field development projects in the UK and a further two in Norway.”

“We are pleased to have reached this agreement, continuing our global relationship with Mitsui,” added BP group chief executive Bob Dudley.

Net BP production from the two fields averages some 7,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Notes to editors:

BP in the North Sea:

BP is a major investor in the North Sea with an extensive portfolio of production from existing reservoirs; new projects under development; and growth potential in undeveloped resources.

Current production is around 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and the company has over 3 billion barrels of proven and contingent resource available.

BP expects to invest $10 billion (c £6.7billion) net over the next five years in the North Sea – including major projects in the UK and in Norway.

Four major projects are currently underway in the UK – Clair Ridge, Quad 204 (Schiehallion), Devenick and Kinnoull and two in Norway – Skarv and Valhall redevelopment.

In the 26th UKCS Licensing Round in 2010, BP was awarded licence interests in seven offshore exploration blocks – the largest licence award BP has received in the UK for more than a decade.

BP To Sell Jonah Gas Operations in Wyoming, U.S.

BP announced today that it has agreed to sell its interests in the Jonah and Pinedale upstream operations in Wyoming to LINN Energy, LLC.

Under the agreement, LINN Energy has agreed to pay BP $1.025 billion in cash for the assets. Completion of the sale is subject to closing conditions including the receipt of all necessary governmental and regulatory approvals. The sale is currently expected to complete by July 31, 2012.

Bob Dudley, BP group chief executive, said: “This sale will allow us to realise the value of the mature Jonah assets and reinvest in higher growth opportunities in BP’s North America gas business and elsewhere. We are actively managing our portfolio of assets and businesses worldwide, focusing our investment on future growth in BP’s areas of strength.”

The agreement to sell the Jonah assets brings the total value of divestments that BP has agreed since the start of 2010 to around $24 billion. BP expects this total to increase to $38 billion by the end of 2013.

Under the agreement BP is selling its operations center in Sublette County, Wyoming, and all of its working interest in approximately 260 operated wells with recent net BP natural gas production of 80 million standard cubic feet equivalent of gas a day (mmscfe/d)], and non-operated wells with recent net BP production of 66 mmscfe/d. BP’s upstream production operations in Moxa and Wamsutter, Wyoming, are unaffected by the sale.

BP’s U.S. onshore upstream operations are an integral part of its business and the company continues to look at opportunities for growth over the long-term. In March 2012 BP announced a new entry into a promising new liquids-rich basin through an agreement to lease over 80,000 acres of the Utica shale basin in Ohio.

BP’s North America Gas business has a high quality portfolio of assets with a presence in seven of the leading gas basins in the U.S. Lower 48 states. In 2011, BP produced over 1,800 mmscf/d natural gas in the U.S.

“BP has invested $52 billion in the U.S. over the past five years, more than any other oil and gas company. In fact, we invest more in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world,” Dudley added. “The continuing development of new energy resources in our U.S. gas business demonstrates our commitment to the nation’s economy and energy security.”

　

Bloomberg News 2012/7/27

BP Ordered to Pay TNK-BP $3.1 Bln on Failed Rosneft Deal

BP Plc was ordered to pay TNK-BP, its joint Russian venture with a group of billionaires, 100.4 billion rubles ($3.1 billion) in damages over a failed deal with oil producer OAO Rosneft.

A court in the Siberian city of Tyumen upheld a suit by Andrey Prokhorov, a minority investor in listed unit TNK-BP Holding, court spokeswoman Anastasia Nigmatulina said today by telephone. Prokhorov claimed TNK-BP could have lost earnings if a proposed BP-Rosneft share swap and Arctic alliance, from which it was excluded, had come to fruition.

The judgment, while less than the 409 billion rubles originally sought by Prokhorov, is “satisfactory,” said Dmitry Chepurenko, a partner at the Liniya Prava law firm that represented Prokhorov. BP will challenge the ruling, Toby Odone, a spokesman for the London-based oil producer, said by e-mail.

The ruling piles pressure on BP as it renegotiates its 50 percent holding in TNK-BP with AAR, which represents the billionaires. BP said June 1 it will pursue a sale of its stake after years of disagreements with AAR, which in 2011 blocked the alliance with Rosneft, saying it violated their shareholder agreement and prevented its access to such an opportunity.

“TNK-BP did not suffer and could not have suffered any damages; any arguments on the issue are pure speculation,” BP’s Odone said. “TNK-BP initially was not considered as a possible participant in the Arctic projects by Rosneft.”
Renewed Hearings

The case brought by Prokhorov, who owns about 0.00001 percent of TNK-BP Holding (TNBP) according to BP, was thrown out in November and returned for hearings in June as Prokhorov called for additional evidence, BP’s lawyer Konstantin Lukoyanov said at the time.

BP began talks this month with AAR and state-run Rosneft to sell shares in its half of TNK-BP, Russia’s third-largest oil producer. TNK-BP has paid BP $19 billion in dividends since 2003 and accounts for a quarter of the company’s global output.

AAR last year blocked the planned $7.8 billion share swap between Rosneft and BP, as well as their deal to explore Russia’s Arctic, citing the TNK-BP shareholder accord. The billionaires subsequently rejected an offer from Rosneft and BP to buy out their half of TNK-BP for $32 billion.

Rosneft had wanted BP, not TNK-BP, for the Kara Sea project, Eduard Khudainatov, Rosneft’s first deputy chief executive officer, said last year when he headed the company. TNK-BP doesn’t have Arctic offshore experience.

TNK-BP declined 0.6 percent to 76.98 rubles in Moscow trading. BP rose 1.4 percent in London.

Dmitry Sergeev, a TNK-BP spokesman, and Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Muir declined to comment on the ruling today in Moscow as the company reported second-quarter earnings.

Jul 30, 2012 Reuters　

AAR says voted against TNK-BP's $1 bln dividend

Directors of AAR consortium, the quartet of billionaires that owns half of Anglo-Russian oil firm TNK-BP, have voted against BP's proposal that TNK-BP would pay $1 billion in dividends attributable to 2012 income, AAR said on Monday.

"At a time of continuing market uncertainty and while corporate governance at TNK-BP remains strained, we believe that a cautious stance by shareholders is called for. A payment now of an additional dividend is not prudent," Stan Polovets, the chief executive officer of AAR, said in a statement.

TNK-BP International said last week its second-quarter net profit slumped to $808 million from $2.2 billion a year ago on the back of lower crude prices and higher taxes.

July 22, 2012 Dow Jones Newswires

BP Calls For $1 Billion TNK-BP Dividend

U.K. oil giant BP PLC has proposed that its Russian joint venture TNK-BP pays shareholders a $1 billion interim dividend, TNK-BP said in a statement.

The idea was mooted Friday at TNK-BP's first board meeting in over half a year. Directors representing BP's Russian joint venture partners, the Alfa Access Renova consortium, said they would study BP's proposal and decide on the payout in the next week.

Regular dividends were suspended in May because of the shareholders' failure to agree on a new set of independent directors.

Without sufficient quorum, TNK-BP's board can't approve quarterly dividends. As a result, BP is expected to miss about $430 million of earnings from TNK-BP when it reports its first-half results on July 31.

The proposed dividend would net BP $500 million as a 50% shareholder.

Friday's meeting came amid renewed speculation over BP's future participation in TNK-BP, Russia's third-largest oil company. BP announced last month that it was considering selling its stake in TNK-BP after receiving expressions of interest from unnamed prospective buyers.

Although a lucrative investment--the joint venture has paid BP some $19 billion in dividends since 2003--the often-fractious relationship between its two sets of owners has also been a source of frustration for the U.K. firm. Relations worsened last year after AAR blocked BP's attempts to strike an independent deal with state-owned oil champion OAO Rosneft. (ROSN.RS).

Legal processes stemming from the dispute continued to endure, prompting the resignation of two of TNK-BP's three independent directors in December.

Lacking its full complement of directors, TNK-BP's board can only rule on a limited number of issues, mainly related to operations. Aside from approving regular dividends, it is also unable to make management board appointments and can't decide on investments above $100 million in value.

In addition to BP's dividend proposal, the board heard a presentation by TNK-BP's management for the firm to invest up to $3 billion developing two vast gas fields in western Siberia through its Rospan subsidiary, according to people familiar with the matter.
　

June 18, 2013 BP　

BP gets Government Go-ahead for PTA Plant in Zhuhai, China

BP and its partner, Zhuhai Port Co, today received final approvals from the Chinese Government for the construction of a third purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant, at Zhuhai, Guangdong

The ‘Zhuhai 3’ plant will have a capacity of 1.25 million tonnes per year and is expected to start up in late 2014. PTA is an important feedstock for polyester used worldwide in food packaging and textiles.

Nick Elmslie, Chief Executive of BP Global Petrochemicals said: “This plant will be using BP’s latest proprietary technology and should make BP Zhuhai the most competitive PTA producer in the world. As one of the largest PTA producers in the world, our aim is to invest continuously in the right projects as well as invest to improve the competitiveness of our PTA sites and PTA joint ventures globally.”

Mark Wilson, President of Aromatics Asia and China Olefins & Derivatives, added “Zhuhai 3 will be the first to employ BP’s latest generation PTA technology. This should deliver a step change in environmental performance, reducing both greenhouse gas emissions and other waste streams significantly. Compared with other conventional technologies, we expect the new plant to achieve 75% lower water discharge, 65% lower greenhouse gas emissions, and 95% lower solid waste generation, meeting and exceeding strict effluent discharge requirements.”

Liming Chen, President of BP China said: “We are very glad to see the approval of this project which is an integral part of BP’s business portfolio in China. This investment demonstrates again our commitment to BP’s long term development in China, and reinforces our aspiration to grow in China.”

Zhuhai 3 joins two earlier phases of PTA units at the same location, bringing total capacity at the site to more than 2.7 million tonnes per year. After the start-up of Zhuhai 3, BP’s worldwide net PTA capacity will be 8.25 million tonnes per year.

In 2012, BP decided to make this latest generation PTA technology available for licensing by third parties and in July 2012, we concluded our first license sale.
Notes to Editors

PTA is the preferred raw material used to manufacture polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a widely used polyester polymer for the production of textiles, bottles, packaging and film products. In China, 90 per cent of PTA production is used in the textile industry.

BP Zhuhai Chemical Company Ltd was formed as a joint venture between BP (85 per cent) and Zhuhai Port Co., Ltd. (formerly named Fu Hua Group) (15 per cent) in 1997. The venture’s first and second PTA plants began production in 2003 and 2008 respectively.

BP has been operating in China since the early 1970s. As at April 2013 BP operate 17 active joint ventures and wholly-owned BP business entities, hiring over 1300 direct employees and about 3700 people via its joint ventures. With a total investment of about US$4.9billion at the end of 2012, BP is one of the leading foreign investors in China. BP’s business activities include deep water exploration, petrochemicals manufacturing and marketing, aviation fuel supply, oil product and lubricant retailing, and the chemicals technology licensing.

July 08 2013

The UK’s Largest Bio-Refinery is Officially Opened in Hull

The £350 million Vivergo bioethanol plant in Hull was officially opened today by the Rt. Hon Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. The new plant is the UK’s biggest bioethanol producer and largest single-source supplier of animal feed providing valuable commodities that the UK would usually import.

The Vivergo plant, a joint venture between AB Sugar, BP, and DuPont, will produce 420 million litres of bioethanol a year at full capacity, equivalent to a third of the UK’s current demand. Bioethanol is a renewable transport fuel which is added to petrol.

Vivergo will also produce 500,000 tonnes a year of protein-rich animal feed for the UK market, which is sufficient to feed around a fifth of the UK’s dairy herd.

Using animal feed grade wheat, which previously would have been exported, Vivergo will become the UK’s biggest wheat buyer, taking 1.1 million tonnes a year. The company’s aspiration is to source its wheat primarily from farms in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

Vivergo’s bioethanol will offer greenhouse gas savings in excess of 50% over standard petrol; this is equivalent to the current emissions of more than 180,000 UK cars a year.

Business Secretary, Vince Cable said: "Energy is critical for the UK's growth prospects. As part of the Government's industrial strategy we are working closely with industry, including the energy sector, on long term plans to develop stronger supply chains, encourage future billions of investment, secure thousands of jobs, support skills and research and development.

"Vivergo is a good example of how joint ventures, using the financial support and expertise of big companies, can not only create local jobs but also help meet the energy security and fuel demands of our country and support local farmers."

David Richards, Managing Director of Vivergo, said: “Our business is a great example of sustainable economic growth, ensuring that valuable commodities such as bioethanol and animal feed which ordinarily would have been imported are produced here in the UK. We are proud to be the first major renewables investment to become operational in the Humber region, cementing its position as the UK’s Energy Estuary. We can already see the evidence of the sustained legacy our business will have locally, through the highly skilled jobs created and the £60m we’ve contributed so far though our supplier contracts.

“Our location right on the Humber is ideal; we’re at the heart of the UK’s wheat belt which offers some of the best yields in the world, and our channels for distributing the bioethanol either by ship or by road to depots where it is blended with petrol, are second to none,” he added.

The Vivergo plant is a brownfield re-development project built on a 25 acre site within the Saltend Chemicals Park near Hull.

Now operational, the plant employs around 80 full time highly skilled people and is estimated to support over a thousand additional jobs through its supply chain. Wherever possible, Vivergo is committed to employing local people. Working in collaboration with JobCentre Plus, local authorities and training providers, a recruitment programme was created gto give a number of unemployed people training and on-the-job experience of working with Vivergo. Six of them have been offered permanent roles and now operate state of the art biofuel production techniques at this world-scale plant.

Dr Mark Carr, Group Chief Executive, AB Sugar, said: “We are proud to be supporting this world-scale bioethanol facility in Hull. This highly efficient plant will significantly contribute to the production of food and fuel in a sustainable way, the UK’s 2020 renewable energy targets and the UK economy and growth, particularly in the Humber area.”

Phillip New, BP’s Vice President for Alternative Energy, said: “The start-up of the plant is important to the UK, environmentally, socially and economically. Vivergo is one of Europe’s most sophisticated ethanol plants – and it is a great example of today’s biofuel technology turning the starch from wheat into ethanol and producing high-quality animal feed as a co-product.”

James C. Collins, President of DuPont Industrial Biosciences said: “While the demand for transportation energy will continue to grow, the supply of affordable petroleum will not. To meet the needs of a growing population, we need to use existing resources more effectively and find better ways to harness renewable energy sources, like those that come from agriculture. Vivergo brings just such innovation to the marketplace in both the fields of energy and animal nutrition. We are proud to partner with BP and AB Sugar to bring state-of-the-art science and technology online.”

17 June 2014　

BP and CNOOC sign 20-year LNG deal

BP and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) today announced a heads of agreement for the supply of up to 1.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year over 20 years starting in 2019. The agreement was signed in London by BP Executive Vice President, Dev Sanyal and CNOOC Chairman, Wang Yilin, in the presence of UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang.

Bob Dudley, BP Group Chief Executive said: “This is a significant deal for BP and China but it also marks a step up in global connectivity in the gas market. This is important for all countries and regions looking at the diversity of energy supply and energy security - it gives BP greater flexibility to respond to the changing energy demands from Europe, Asia and other regions.

“We are pleased to support China’s commitment to improving its air quality. This agreement is the first long-term LNG supply deal wih China where BP is the sole supplier and it should play a crucial role in enhancing China’s energy diversification and supporting its economic growth.”

A full commercial contract is expected to be agreed in mid-2014. BP would expect to supply LNG from its global portfolio, using its own LNG tanker fleet and chartered ships delivering gas to a number of terminals in China.

Notes to editors:
・　1.5 million tonnes of LNG is approx 72 billion cu ft of natural gas.

・CNOOC is a pioneer of China’s LNG industry and the third largest LNG importer in the world with 13 million tons of LNG imported in 2013. Currently, CNOOC operates 6 LNG receiving terminals in Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Tianjin with further terminals under construction.

・BP is active in many of the major LNG producing regions as well as in the main LNG markets. It is involved in LNG projects in Australia, UAE, Indonesia, Egypt, Trinidad and Angola.

BPXP is to pay the United States a civil penalty of $5.5 billion under the Clean Water Act (CWA) – payable over 15 years.
BPXP will pay $7.1 billion to the United States and the five Gulf states over 15 years for natural resource damages (NRD). This is in addition to the $1 billion already committed for early restoration. BPXP will also set aside an additional amount of $232 million to be added to the NRD interest payment at the end of the payment period to cover any further natural resource damages that are unknown at the time of the agreement.
A total of $4.9 billion will be paid over 18 years to settle economic and other claims made by the five Gulf Coast states.
Up to $1 billion will be paid to resolve claims made by more than 400 local government entities.

The expected impact of these agreements would be to increase the cumulative pre-tax charge associated with the Deepwater Horizon accident and spill by around $10 billion from $43.8 billion at the end of the first quarter. Separately to these agreements, the total charge reported in BP’s second quarter results will also reflect other items including charges for additional business economic loss determinations.

The principal payments arising from the agreements will be made over extended periods of time as set out in the attached schedule of payments.

NRD and CWA payments are scheduled to start 12 months after the agreements becomes final. Total payments for NRD, CWA and State claims will be made at a rate of around $1.1 billion a year for the majority of the payment period.

Carl-Henric Svanberg, BP’s chairman, said: “Five years ago we committed to restore the Gulf economy and environment and we have worked ever since to deliver on that promise. We have made significant progress, and with this agreement we provide a path to closure for BP and the Gulf. It resolves the company’s largest remaining legal exposures, provides clarity on costs and creates certainty of payment for all parties involved.

“In deciding to follow this path, the Board has balanced the risks, timing and consequences associated with many years of litigation against its wish for the company to be able to set a clear course for the future.

“The Board therefore believes that this agreement is in the best long-term interest of BP and its shareholders. The Board set out its position on the dividend at the first quarter and this remains unchanged by the agreement.”

Bob Dudley, BP’s group chief executive, said: “This is a realistic outcome which provides clarity and certainty for all parties.

“For BP, this agreement will resolve the largest liabilities remaining from the tragic accident and enable BP to focus on safely delivering the energy the world needs.

“For the United States and the Gulf in particular, this agreement will deliver a significant income stream over many years for further restoration of natural resources and for losses related to the spill.

“When concluded, this will resolve not only the Clean Water Act proceedings but also the Natural Resource Damage claims as well as other claims brought by Gulf States and local government entities.”

BP’s chief financial officer, Brian Gilvary, said: “The negotiations were carried out with the goal of reaching a collective solution that would be acceptable for all parties. For BP this will provide certainty with respect to BP’s financial obligations for the matters settled, particularly with the ability to spread payments smoothly over many years.

“The impact of the settlement on our balance sheet and cashflow will be manageable and enables BP to continue to invest in and grow its business, underpinned by a resilient and robust financial framework.”

The agreements in principle are subject to execution of definitive agreements. These will comprise a Consent Decree with the United States and Gulf states with respect to the civil penalty and natural resource damages, a settlement agreement with five Gulf states with respect to State and local claims for economic and property losses, and release agreements with local government entities.

The Consent Decree will be subject to public comment and final court approval. The Consent Decree and settlement agreement with the Gulf states are conditional upon each other and neither will become effective unless (1) there is final court approval for the Consent Decree and (2) local government entities execute releases to BP’s satisfaction.

The agreements do not cover the remaining costs of the 2012 class action settlements with the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for economic and property damage and medical claims. They also do not cover claims by individuals and businesses that opted out of the 2012 settlements and/or whose claims were excluded from them. BP will continue to defend those claims vigorously. Today’s agreements in principle also do not resolve private securities litigation pending in MDL 2185.

Payment schedule

Year after consent decree	Civil Penalty payments	Natural Resource Damages (NRD) payments	NRD additional final payment	State Claims payments
0				$1,000,000,000
1	$379,310,345	$489,655,172
2	$189,655,712	$244,827,586
3	$379,310,345	$489,655,172		$260,000,000
4	$379,310,345	$489,655,172		$260,000,000
5	$379,310,345	$489,655,172		$260,000,000
6	$379,310,345	$489,655,172		$260,000,000
7	$379,310,345	$489,655,172		$260,000,000
8	$379,310,345	$489,655,172		$260,000,000
9	$379,310,345	$489,655,172		$260,000,000
10	$379,310,345	$489,655,172		$260,000,000
11	$379,310,345	$489,655,172		$260,000,000
12	$379,310,345	$489,655,172		$260,000,000
13	$379,310,345	$489,655,172		$260,000,000
14	$379,310,345	$489,655,172		$260,000,000
15	$379,310,343	$489,655,172		$260,000,000
16			$232,000,000	$260,000,000
17				$260,000,000
Totals	$5.50 billion	$7.10 billion	$0.23 billion	$4.90 billion

Notes

Interest will accrue at a fixed rate on the unpaid balance of the civil penalty and natural resource damages payments, compounded annually and payable in years 15 (CWA) and 16 (NRD).

The interest rate will be fixed at the average market yield on U.S. Treasury securities at 2-year and 3-year constant maturities, quoted on an investment basis by the US Federal Reserve (H.15 Release), for the period from 28 May 2014 to 27 May 2015.

To address possible natural resource damages unknown at the time of the settlement, beginning ten years after the settlement, the federal government and the Gulf states may request accelerated payment of accrued but unpaid interest on the natural resource damages payments.

Parent company guarantees for these payments will be provided by BP Corporation North America Inc. as the primary guarantor and BP p.l.c. as the secondary guarantor.

The federal government and the Gulf states may jointly elect to accelerate the civil penalty and natural resource damages payments in the event of a change of control or insolvency of BP p.l.c.

In addition to these agreed settlement payments, set out in the table above and the payment of up to $1 billion for local government claims, BPXP has also agreed to pay $350 million to cover outstanding NRD assessment costs and $250 million to cover the full settlement of outstanding response costs, claims related to the False Claims Act and royalties owed for the Macondo well. These additional payments will be paid over nine years, beginning in 2015.

The Deepwater Horizon Trust Fund, established to meet claims in 2010 after the oil spill, is expected to be used to make payments (other than CWA fines and penalties), including $1 billion of state claims and up to $1 billion to settle local claims.
　

2016/7/14

BP estimates all remaining material Deepwater Horizon liabilities

BP announced today that following significant progress in resolving outstanding claims arising from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident and oil spill, it can now reliably estimate all of its remaining material liabilities in connection with the incident.

As a result, taking into account this estimate together with other positive tax adjustments, BP expects to take an after-tax non-operating charge of around $2.5 billion in its second quarter 2016 results.

This charge is expected to include a pre-tax non-operating charge associated with the oil spill of around $5.2 billion. This would bring the total cumulative pre-tax charge relating to the Deepwater Horizon incident to $61.6 billion or $44.0 billion after tax.

BP believes that any further outstanding Deepwater Horizon-related claims not covered by this additional charge will not have a material impact on the Group’s financial performance. It will deal with remaining claims in the ordinary course of business.

Brian Gilvary, BP chief financial officer said: “Over the past few months we’ve made significant progress resolving outstanding Deepwater Horizon claims and today we can estimate all the material liabilities remaining from the incident. Importantly, we have a clear plan for managing these costs and it provides our investors with certainty going forward.”

Gilvary reconfirmed that BP expects to continue to use proceeds of divestments to meet Deepwater Horizon commitments in line with the financial framework laid out in previous quarters.

A year ago, BP reached agreements to settle outstanding federal, state and local government claims arising from Deepwater Horizon. In the months since, BP has made much further progress in resolving outstanding claims arising from the incident.

PSC settlement - the Court and the Deepwater Horizon Court Supervised Settlement Program have been progressing the remaining economic and property damage claims relating to the 2012 Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (PSC) settlement, including through simplified and accelerated procedures for processing certain claims. Today’s announced charge includes the estimated cost of settling all outstanding business and economic loss claims under that settlement, which are expected to be paid by 2019.

Opt-out and excluded claims - there has also been significant progress in resolving economic loss and property damage claims from individuals and businesses that either opted out of the PSC settlement and/or were excluded from that settlement. In February 2016, the US federal district court estimated that there were more than 85,000 valid opt-out and excluded economic loss plaintiffs. The vast majority of these claims have since been settled or dismissed as an order of the court today confirms. An estimate of the cost of the remaining claims, expected to be paid by the end of 2016, is also included in this charge.

Securities litigation - in June, BP announced a $175 million settlement of claims from a class of post-explosion ADS purchasers in the MDL 2185 securities litigation, payable during 2016 - 2017. This cost is also included in today’s announced charge.

70百万ドル	Civil penalties (Clean Water Act)	45百万ドル	政府のOil Spill Liability Trust Fundの補充
70百万ドル	Civil penalties (Clean Water Act)	25百万ドル	Louisiana 6.75 Alabama 5 Florida 5 Mississippi 5 Texas 3.25
20百万ドル	land acquisition projects (Gulf states)

	内容	影響
資源エネルギー	BPがLNGを中国に供給。 CNOOC, Shell Ink Agreement on Global Strategic Partnership	中国の資源調達が多様化
高速鉄道	中国企業の受注を促進	日本勢の受注に影響も
人民元決済	英国初の人民元決済取引銀行を設立	欧州で人民元の国際化
人権	チベット問題など中国に考慮し、深入りせず	弱腰外交に英世論から批判

内容	金額
Clean Water Act (CWA)による罰金＋金利	55億ドル	80%は RESTORE Actに基づき湾岸の復興に使用
天然資源被害（NRD)	81億ドル	うち10億ドルは既に支払約束済みのもの
天然資源被害（NRD)	7億ドル	未知の被害に対するもの
経済的被害、その他被害	6億ドル
湾岸5州への支払	49億ドル
地方自治体への支払	10億ドル
合計	208億ドル

AB Sugar has joined forces with BP and DuPont to build and operate a world scale Bioethanol facility in Hull. The Group has a 45% stake in a Joint Venture with BP (45%) and DuPont (10%), which operates as Vivergo Fuels Limited.