BP Share News (BP.)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks were the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Thursday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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BG Group, up 1.5%, BP, up 1.1%, and Royal Dutch Shell 'A' and 'B' shares, both up 1.1%, continuing their rally on the back of a lift in oil prices. Oil was boosted Wednesday by a decline in weekly US crude oil inventories. On Thursday morning, Brent oil was trading at USD37.44 a barrel, up from USD36.92 at the London equities close Wednesday
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Metals miner Polymetal, up 1.1%. The company said it has entered into a joint venture with OJCS Polyus Gold, under which the former will work on developing the Nezhdaninskoye gold deposit in Yakutia in Russia. Polymetal will acquire a 50% stake in the JSC South-Verkhoyansk Mining Co business, which holds the rights to the deposit. Under the first stage of the joint venture, Polymetal will acquire a 15.3% stake for a USD18.0 million investment, which will be used to fund the activities of the joint venture. Polymetal will then have the option, following completion of the first phase, to participate in an earn-in arrangement to give it a stake of up to 50% in the venture.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Aquabounty Technologies, up 33%. The company said the Federal Court in Canada has dismissed an application brought before it to prevent AquaBounty from producing AquAdvantage salmon for commercial use. The Ecology Action Centre and Living Oceans Society had appealed against the decision by the Canadian ministers of Environment and Health to allow production of AquAdvantage salmon for commercial use, but the Federal Court found that the decision was "reasonable" and complied with the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. AquAdvantage salmon is an Atlantic salmon that has been genetically enhanced to reach market size in less time than conventional farmed salmon.
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Bellzone Mining, up 19%. The exploration and development company with assets in Guinea said it has inked a deal with Hudson Global Group Ltd, which has a 50.5% stake in Bellzone, for its working capital funding for 2016. Hudson will make a loan facility of up to USD6.5 million available to Bellzone, which is expected to be enough to provide the company with sufficient working capital for 2016.
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Ashley House, up 12%. The company said it has completed two deals with Funding Affordable Homes and has offloaded its liabilities on its UK National Health Service LIFT joint ventures. The company said it has now signed a funding and partnering agreement with Funding Affordable Homes which will cover the full funding for the design and construction, plus long-term investment funding, for Ashley House's extra care developments in Harwich and Walton on the Naze. The two schemes are expected to generate revenue of around GBP21.0 million, and Ashley House has drawn down GBP2.6 million to repay short-term debt it had taken on to fund the early stages of the developments.
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Sirius Minerals, up 2.8%. The company said it has signed a 'Take or Pay' offtake agreement in China with Huaken International for the purchase of polyhalite from the York potash project, in what analysts called a "major step forward" for the AIM-listed miner. The agreement is for a period of seven years from first production and pricing is based on a formula linked to polyhalite's constituent nutrients that are consistent with a number of the company's other offtake agreements, Sirius said. The volumes called for in the contract with Huaken ramp up to 500,000 tonnes in the seventh year, in line with the ramp up of the York potash project. Take or Pay refers to a contract whereby the buyer either purchases output from the supplier at a pre-agreed price or faces paying the supplier a penalty.
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By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews

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