Charles Jillings, CEO of Utilico, energized by strong economic momentum across Latin America. Watch the video here.
This does BA no credit whatsoever. I had thought that he had been trying to sort out the mess that was BLVN under KH. Just shows how naive I have been....! How these guys have the audacity to remain hunkered down trying to resist CO defies imagination. Just hope that the 2nd EGM comes along soon. With luck, those PIs who might have been sitting on the fence last time around will now realise that the existing BLVN crew care only for themselves and couldn't give a toss about shareholders. BA needs to be swept away along with KH and the rest of that bunch of losers.
Investor fights to oust Bowleven chairman Greig Cameron, Scottish Business Editor March 18 2017, 12:01am, The Times Crown Ocean Capital has requested a second shareholder meeting of Bowleven in an attempt to remove Billy Allan, the chairman. The activist investor succeeded this week in ousting five out of the six directors at the oil explorer that it wanted to remove. Mr Allan held on by a narrow margin with 50.65 per cent of the votes cast against his departure. Crown Ocean is campaigning for change because it believes that Bowleven can cut costs, progress quicker on its offshore Etinde development in Cameroon, review its onshore gas project there and return some of its $95 million cash to shareholders. The Monaco-based investment vehicle urged Mr Allan to resign to avoid wasting more of the company’s resources. It offered to pay for part of the costs involved in any new meeting. Crown Ocean said that it was taking further action because Mr Allan, who previously ran Asco, an oil and gas logistics group, was unwilling to implement the changes voted for by shareholders. It claimed that Kevin Hart, Bowleven’s chief executive, and Kerry Crawford, the finance director, remained employees and have not had termination notices served even though they were voted off the board on Wednesday. Crown Ocean said: “We now see a significant danger posed by either a dysfunctional board or one controlled by Mr Allan, who could use his casting vote to maintain the status quo and protect his and the old leadership’s entrenched positions. This situation is clearly not sustainable and not in the best interest of shareholders.” It proposed two new directors. Didier Lechartier has more than 25 years’ experience in the oil and gas sector, most recently as the managing director of Egypt, Bulgaria and Italy for Petroceltic. Julien Balkany is the co-founder of Nanes Balkany Partners, a group of funds run from New York, which invests in the oil and gas sector. They would be in addition to the two Crown Ocean nominees, Eli Chahin and Christopher Ashworth, who joined the Bowleven board this week. David Clarkson, Bowleven’s chief operating officer, was not subject to a requisition from Crown Ocean and remains on the board of the Edinburgh-based company. Bowleven acknowledged the request for another general meeting but declined to answer the points raised by Crown Ocean. It promised “a detailed response” before the next meeting. After first investing in Bowleven early last year, Crown Ocean built its stake and has increased the pressure on the board in recent months. The requisition for the first meeting was made in January and by the time the proxy voting closed on March 10, Crown Ocean had increased its stake to 22 per cent. Shares in Bowleven closed up almost 4 per cent at 35½p.
Most of Bowleven board ousted as investors back call for change - 09:09 15 Mar 2017 Only chairman Billy Allan and chief operating officer David Clarkson are staying with the oil and gas company. Africa-focused oil explorer Bowleven PLC (LON:BLVN) has seen almost all of the board depart after shareholders backed a rebel investor’s call for change. Kevin Hart, chief executive, Kerry Crawford, finance director, and three non-executives John Martin, Tim Sullivan and Philip Tracy have all ceased to be directors following the shareholder vote. Only chairman Billy Allan and chief operating officer David Clarkson are staying with the oil and gas company. Monaco-based investment fund Crown Ocean Capital called the meeting claiming the company had badly managed its African oil assets. A string of disappointments has seen the shares lose 90% of their value over the past five years. Two of COC's nominees, Christopher Ashworth and Eli Chahin, were also appointed as directors. Bowleven’s statement pointed out that without COC’s 22% stake all of the resolutions would have been defeated by a ‘significant margin‘, while major institutional investors also all voted against bar one exception. Earlier this month, Bowleven PLC (LON:BLVN) struck a deal with Victoria Oil & Gas plc (LON:VOG) that will see VOG's local subsidiary take an 80% stake in the Bomono production sharing contract (PSC), with Bowleven keeping the remainder and continuing as operator. Gas from Bomono will be sold to VOG minus a tolling fee for use of the pipeline. COC described the deal as making no sense for Bowleven shareholders. Shares dropped 5% to 32.6p.
Apologies - just notice incomplete paragraph at end of Pt 1. Here it is: With almost no debt and billions of dollars of shares repurchased over the past decade, Exxon has the financial power for almost any conceivable transaction. However, marrying the Texan company’s famously buttoned-down engineers with BP’s internal culture could be difficult.
“I don’t see what the point would be of Exxon acquiring the company,” said Iain Reid, an analyst at Macquarie in London. “There’s nothing unique about BP that Exxon can’t get something similar by just buying single assets. If I had money to invest I wouldn’t put in in BP in the hope Exxon would buy the company.” Such a combination could also be too big, attracting the attention of antitrust regulators around the world. The U.K. might object to the sale of a formerly state-owned firm. In April 2015, following Shell’s acquisition of BG Group, the British government said it would oppose any takeover of BP. “Given the excitable nature of British domestic politics at the moment, that would require some careful management,” said Alex Brooks, a London-based analyst at Canaccord. “It’s an interesting possibility but it doesn’t seem to me to be particularly likely scenario. I’d think Exxon would have other things to focus on.”
Exxon-BP Acquisition Talk Resurfaces: Is a Deal Really Likely? BP Plc’s shares surged the most this year after a London newspaper reported on rumors that Exxon Mobil Corp. sounded out major shareholders over a potential takeover. While a bid for BP can’t be ruled out, reports about Exxon’s interest have been around for years and analysts from Macquarie Capital Ltd. to Canaccord Genuity said a deal was unlikely. “The report about Exxon and BP seems to be just a rumor because because there doesn’t appear to be an obvious strategic fit,” said Anish Kapadia, a senior research analyst at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co International LLP. “It would create a company potentially too big and complex to be manageable.” Exxon and BP spokesmen declined to comment. Oil’s current downturn has resulted in just one big deal -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s $54 billion acquisition of BG Group Plc last year. Others have preferred to do smaller acquisitions as they preserve cash and protect their balance sheets. While oil prices have increased from the 12-year lows of last year, companies are still unsure if the recovery is sustainable. Still, Irving, Texas-based Exxon has one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry and hasn’t done a deal on such a large scale since the wave of oil-major consolidation in the late 1990s. In contrast, BP has shrunk significantly since 2010 oil spill in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico forced it to set aside more than $54 billion for compensation and penalties. BP’s Decline As recently as 2010, BP had the same market capitalization as Shell and produced more oil and gas. Today, BP’s value of $112 billion is about half that of Shell. It’s even further behind Exxon, the world’s most valuable oil company at $337 billion. As well as the daunting scale of a deal, there’s potentially a poison pill. Any buyer might be forced to accelerate the payment of as much as two-thirds of the more than $20 billion in penalties levied on BP for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, according to company filings. “That will significantly add to the costs,” Kapadia said. “It may not be what someone would want to take on.” That BP’s independence is even up for discussion shows the relative decline of a company that pioneered exports from the Middle East, helped start Alaska’s oil industry and led the exploration of the North Sea. Since taking over in the months following the accident, Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley sold about a third of the company’s assets and production has fallen from close to 4 million barrels a day in 2010 to a little more than 3 million. The company is trying to grow again, with a series of deals in the Middle East and Africa last year. Exxon’s Strength With almost no debt and billions of dollars of shares repurchased over the past decade, Exxon has the financial power for almost any concei
Not sure that I can see a take-over on the cards. Shell could get away with it politically, but still trying to get its house in order after the t/o of BG. I expect that HMG would not be keen on Exxon or Chevron making a move on BP (...to say nothing of Rosneft, et al!) Suspect that the $60 figure has unsettled the market. Given the current oversupply and high inventories, this figure is by no means guaranteed, even by the end of 2017. Which begs the question, if $60 is not reached by EOY, does that mean that the dividend becomes unsustainable? LTH so I shall ride this out, but interested in views on where this might be heading.
BP's bill to compensate for damages caused by the explosion and ensuing oil spill have risen to $62.6 billion.
LONDON, Feb 7 (Reuters) – BP raised the oil price at which it can balance its books this year to $60 a barrel on Tuesday due to higher spending following a string of investments as annual earnings fell for a second consecutive year. After the average oil price fell to its lowest in 12 years at $44 a barrel last year, BP said it expected prices to have found a floor for this year at $50 a barrel following a decision by major OPEC and non-OPEC producers to limit output. The British oil and gas company, whose fourth quarter profits fell short of street expectations, had previously targeted a breakeven oil price of $50-55 a barrel. The new target reflects an uptick in planned spending to $16-17 billion from $16 billion in 2016. BP's annual underlying replacement cost, its definition of net profit, slumped to its lowest level in at least a decade to $2.59 billion, while fourth-quarter profit of $400 million missed analysts' forecasts by around 30 percent primarily due to $328 million in one-off charges. It is the latest oil major to miss forecasts following worse-than-expected results from Royal Dutch Shell , Chevron and Statoil . BP shares were down 2.9 percent at 0851 GMT at 462.5 pence, underperforming the sector index which was 0.6 percent lower. "BP are not covering their dividend and they raised their cash breakeven point quite considerably," said Macquarie equities analyst Iain Reid. "They are having to pay for what they bought and they are the only company that actually raised their breakeven number," he said. BP has been on a spending spree in recent months, concluding a string of deals, including in Eni's giant Zohr offshore gas field in Egypt, contracts in Abu Dhabi and Azerbaijan and a stake in exploration areas off Mauritania and Senegal from Kosmos . The burst in activity marks a return to growth for the company whose deadly 2010 Deepwater Horizon rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico forced it to sell assets worth billions of dollars. But this growth also means higher costs. BP's production is expected to rise this year as it is set to start up eight projects, including in Oman and Azerbaijan, the largest number in the company's history in a single year. The company hopes to add 800,000 barrels per day of new production by the end of the decade. Chief Financial Officer Brian Gilvary told Reuters that a decision by oil-producing nations to cut output in order to prop up prices would have only limited impact on BP's production through its recently renewed Abu Dhabi concession. "If everything holds in terms of what OPEC has said I think we will hold north of $50 a barrel," Gilvary told Reuters. BP reported an annual loss of $542 million in its oil and gas production division, known as upstream, while profits for the refining and trading division were down 25 percent at $5.6 billion. BP's bill to compensate for damages caused by the explosion and ensuing oil spill
Goodwins currently undervalued. Resurgence in oil price means that Goodwins will start to benefit from increased order book as e&p confidence returns and margins improve. Easat Radar Systems, part of the Group, is also going great guns. Strong Buy in my book.
A freeze will achieve little, especially since Saudis are pumping at record volumes. OPEC countries need prices higher to finance debt, fund welfare programmes, etc., etc. If the 30 Nov meeting in inconclusive, then expect POO to drift back to low 40s and maybe back into 30s. At which point, BP's dividend will come under pressure again - ditto the regime in KSA.
Crazy build number, especially given last week's draw. Let's hope it is all part of some cunning plan to convince the Saudis that they have to turn the taps off a bit.
Thanks Goose. I had lost sight of that one. Looks as if bp swinging back into favour. Or maybe with BoE's latest decision, not much point in keeping money in the bank - might as well stick it into oilies!
Any thoughts out there on why BP's sp is languishing today, given that POO seems to be on a rebound, which is being reflected across other oil majors? (eg. RDSB currently up 2.5%). Maybe we are just slow to join the party and we'll see our share of the uptrend as soon as I post this....
Franco, your link is showing up in your history - ie. click on your name and you will see your previous posts.
2 December 2014 Genel Energy plc Receipt of initial payment for KRI exports Genel Energy plc ('Genel') is pleased to announce that the Taq Taq field partners have received an initial gross payment of $30 million from the Kurdistan Regional Government ('KRG') for oil exported through the Kurdistan Region of Iraq ('KRI')-Turkey pipeline. The Tawke field partners will also receive a $30 million gross payment. Genel's net share of these payments is $24 million. Genel believes that this is an important first step towards the normalisation of payments for oil exported through the pipeline. Payments are expected to become more regular and predictable once the KRG reaches budget equilibrium in early 2015. Oil exports by pipeline from the KRI continue to grow and recently exceeded 350,000 bopd.
It's bouncing around $72 at present.