THE NEWS BP PLC's (BP, BP.LN) chairman said Friday that he expects the company to survive its current crisis. Meanwhile, BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward is turning over day-to-day operations of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill to a managing director. Meanwhile, some 25,000 barrels of oil were captured Thursday at BP's leaking oil well. Also, the first of two planned relief wells is closing in on BP's broken well. BP MOVES Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said that, while BP is still estimating the costs and damages from the oil spill, he expects the company to emerge from the crisis. "You must remember BP is a very strong company," Svanberg said in an interview with Sky News. "We will come through this." Svanberg also said CEO Hayward was handing day-to-day operations of the Gulf spill response to managing director Bob Dudley. Svanberg declined to speculate on his own or Hayward's future at the company. Svanberg defended BP's actions leading up to and since the spill. Reacting to criticism that BP had cut corners on safety, he said that hadn't been the company's intention. THE COLLECTION EFFORT Some 25,000 barrels of oil was captured at the well Thursday, U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Friday, up from the previous day's estimate of 16,000 to 17,000 barrels a day. Allen said the effort is on track to increase the rate to 53,000 barrels a day by the end of June. ESCROW ACCOUNT: A GOOD START SAYS LOUISIANA TREASURER BP's $20 billion escrow fund for the Gulf Coast oil spill "is a good start," but may not be enough to compensate the individuals and businesses that may be affected, Louisiana Treasurer John Kennedy said. "I support it, and I've been one of the ones that asked for it," he said. "I hope damages don't reach that level, but everything I see right now leads me to believe they will." BP DEBT DOWNGRADE Moody's Investors Service downgraded BP's credit rating three notches as costs and exposure to litigation from the oil spill continue to mount. Moody's lowered BP's senior unsecured ratings to A2 from Aa2. On Thursday, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services cut its rating on BP by two notches; on Tuesday, Fitch Ratings cut BP's long-term debt six notches to just above junk level. ESCROW ADMINISTRATOR'S VIEW The U.S. government-appointed administrator of BP's $20 billion fund for oil-spill damage said he will run his own show as he seeks to improve the claims process set up by BP. "This is a program that has my imprimatur on it, not the [Obama] administration or BP," Kenneth Feinberg said. "It is my program as an independent force." BP WEIGHS ASSET SALES BP has hired advisers to assemble a portfolio of assets that will be sold in the next year to raise more than GBP6.5 billion, Sky News reported on its website. BP has enlisted Standard Chartered PLC (STAN.LN) to draw up a list of possible disposals, it said. BP declined to comment. BP's standby loan has now risen to $7 billion as more banks join a group of lenders supporting BP, a person familiar with the situation said. On June 4, BP said this facility amounted to $5.25 billion. MARKET REACTION BP's stock price fell in Europe, but edged up in the U.S. The company's American depositary shares rose 0.2% to $31.76; BP was off 0.6% in Europe. BP's U.S. shares are now down 47% from April 20, the day the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded. The stock's lowest point since then came last week, on June 9, when it reached an intraday low of $29. While BP is down more than 6% for this week, it is up nearly 10% from that June 9 low. BP's credit-default swaps were at 466 basis points Friday, compared with 470 basis points at Thursday's close, according to Markit. That means it now costs an average of $466,000 a year to insure $10 million of debt issued by BP. DOW JONES COVERAGE BP WATCH: BP Debt Downgraded Again; US Shares Up Anadarko Petroleum Blames BP's Reckless Actions For Oil Spill BIG PICTURE: Another Look At Oil Spill's Spillover Effects Interior Dept Strengthens Blowout-Prevention Requirements WSJ: BP Fund Administrator Promises Speedy Claims Payout BP Chairman: Still Estimating Cost,Damages From Spill--Sky News USCG Adm. Allen: 25,000 B/D Of Oil Captured From Gulf Leak Thu MARKET TALK: BP Share Price To Remain Volatile--RBS SPIEF: Lukoil Exec: BP Was "Really Unlucky" With Oil Spill US Gulf Oil Spill May Delay Offshore Output--IEA's Tanaka BP Oil Spill Loan Rises To $7B As More Banks Show Support-Source Moody's Downgrades BP Credit; Cites Rising Spill Costs BP Russia Head: Co Doesn't Plan To Sell Rosneft Shares For more coverage of the oil spill, please search under the code BP. (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 18, 2010 18:07 ET (22:07 GMT)
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