Member Info for Exploration

Https://share.google/SaKCj5X95kzoQJ3bi

There are many people with a grudge against CRH, Mr Manifold’s previous company.

I wonder if his departure is result of negative press concerning CRH.

https://share.google/KngJUy1oYbeVDVSNW

Perhaps Seamus Maye wrote to Amanda Blanc?

Https://corruptnation.org/irelands-largest-company-crh-faces-decades-long-allegations-of-corruption-cartels-and-regulatory-failure/

The appointment of Meg O’Neill is excellent news. She was a member of Rex Tillerson’s core team for a while and learned the art of straight talking, no nonsense running an E&P business from him. In that respect BP and Exxon are ‘chalk and cheese’.

During the US Gov’t hearings in the Macondo blow-out by the Environmental ~Sub Committee I think you can see O’Neill sitting behind Tillerson while he confidently explains BP’s shortcomings. Then compare Exxon’s performance at that Committee with BP’s contribution. You’ll see the difference.

The scale of Exxon’s world-wide upstream operations in terms of production, number of wells drilled and safety performance dwarfs BP’s and requires much higher discipline especially in capital allocation. Same for downstream.

In terms of government relations Exxon is a leader and if the company was still in the North Sea they would have stood up to Milliband and co. But, aside from obvious maturity of the province, Exxon chose to get out of a declining business, at least on the UK side of the median line with Norway, along with Shell.

Expect to see the disastrous, McKinsey-inspired organisation of BP binned and a return to a normal oil company at last. There is no shortage of oil and gas in the world and only a few companies capable of managing mega-projects - but I’m afraid BP may have lost many of the people needed to make things happen.

In 1997, Bridas and Amoco (now BP) established a joint venture named Pan American Energy. BP is 60% and the stake of Bridas is 40%. BP only got involved as a result of the BP/Amoco merger, but Bridas and Unocal were negotiating an oil export pipeline to Pakistan via Afghanistan - which would compete with Azerbaijan’s BTC pipeline. BP pulled out but had to negotiate with Bridas’ owner, Carlos Bulgheroni - Argentina’s richest man. . On November 28, 2010, it was announced that Bridas would acquire the BP's stake for $7.06 billion in cash. In 2011 the deal was cancelled. In September 2017, BP and Bridas agreed to merge their interests in Pan American Energy and Axion Energy to form a jointly owned Pan American Energy Group.

See latest Private Eye comments on Viaro whose owner Francesco Mazzagatti, is investigated about the Rockrose deal. Shell is trying to flog gas fields and Bacton terminal to Viaro, including Selene prospect. No comment from NTSA

In 2024 BP announced oil and gas had been found in Cabo Frio Central (50/50, BP/Petrobras). But there was no fanfare like Bumerangue.

 Bumerangue is in Santos Basin (BP 100%). Discovery, yes - but mix of oil, gas and CO2 is important. A big column of hydrocarbons and thick gross reservoir section is reported. But net reservoir is not mentioned.

If there was a successful DST I’m sure BP would have announced the flow rate. There is another undrilled target in same block called Tupinamba.

Equinor is also looking at a feature nearby surrounded by dry holes by Exxon with CO2 gas (99%) at Peroba and Tres Marias. Maybe BP has found a sweet spot, but no DST so far.

After appraisal, development etc - first oil in 10 years?

Big discovery? Who knows, not even BP - but good publicity ahead of results as a PR exercise.

Azerbaijan's Production Sharing Agreements specify 90% of 'professional' staff and 95% of 'non-professional staff must be Azerbaijan citizens by a certain time. When the first contract was negotiated between 1992 and 1994 BP and it's foreign partners were told to form a joint operating company. initially to get the show on the road. The same arrangement followed with the exploration PSAs. Local staff were provided by SOCAR - all of whom were experienced in E&P during the Soviet era.

project management. In fact SOCAR effectively ran each joint operating company by 'remote control'. In the early stages, BP's management simply followed Azerbaijan's strategic plan. BP's main contribution was to bring technology, project management and money. Eventually, after BP took over Amoco, it made more sense for a single operator, BP, to act as contractor party, with SOCAR calling the shots and Azerbaijan's very capable government dealing with the politics of neighbouring countries and the western powers. In effect, Azerbaijan has used BP rather like a state oil company, but allowed BP to take the commercial credit in the markets for what has been achieved over 30 years.

See article 16 of the ACG PSA

https://www.scribd.com/document/519475112/828-EN-AZ-Restated-ACG-PSA

Hydrogen’s souffle moment

One of the sector’s harshest critics calls for a change of course, but the industry insists it is on an upward trajectory

Renowned clean hydrogen sceptic Michael Liebreich stunned an industry conference in London in late June with perhaps his most damning assessment of the sector’s prospects. He told a room full of project developers that they have failed to do the basic arithmetic when drawing up their business plans and called some of the planned new applications for hydrogen “insanely stupid”.

Liebreich, chairman of advisory firm Liebreich Associates, said he struggled to see viable use cases for green hydrogen. Hydrogen is not a good fuel; it is not good for heating and will not work for transport applications, he told the FT Hydrogen Summit 2025.

Even green ammonia, which has emerged recently as the most promising derivative, is not going to gain traction because it is too expensive. “And it does not have the learning rates to get it to being affordable,” Liebreich said.

“We should wake up and course correct,” he said. “I have never seen an industry where the divide between the expectations and what the techno-economics can actually deliver is so wide.”

Liebreich’s coup de grace was his characterisation of the clean hydrogen sector as a gradually deflating “souffle” as it is taken out of the oven. “It is not a hydrogen bubble that goes pop and it is all over—it just sort of collapses slowly.”

Theaky

I suggest you review100 years of military inefficiency from the Crimean War, through the Boer conflict, to the disastrous campaigns of the First World War and the calamities of the Second.

The the social psychology of military organizations, provides case studies of individual commanders and identifies an alarming pattern in the causes of military disaster. When things go wrong on the battlefield and thousands of lives are lost, there is a lot of explaining to do, including inquiries and who was accountable and punished. Surviving soldiers get nothing.

In business in UK, commercial disasters on the scale we’ve experienced in BP since 2022 are not investigated, those accountable are not penalised - and even rewarded as they’re booted out. Expect a shareholder riot when severance packages are made public.

Kate Thompson takes over on Strategy, sustainability etc.

Birrel for CEO?

Chierchia fired. Just announced.

Thanked for ‘significant impact she has made’ by CEO.

Yeah - like destroying $50 billion of value.

Thanks Elliot - please don’t use McKinsey ever again. They were bigger financial disaster than Macondo.

Activist investor Elliott Investment Management wants BP (NYSE:BP) to remove Giulia Chierchia, the oil company's top executive for its strategy, sustainability and ventures unit, The Times reported late Thursday.

Chierchia was hired from the McKinsey consultancy by former CEO Bernard Looney and was seen as one of the key architects of BP’s (NYSE:BP) push into green energy, which the company has scaled back to less than $1B/year, compared with a previous goal to increase it to $5B, following prolonged weakness in its share price.

Alistair Osborne

, Chief Business Commentator

Wednesday February 26 2025, 10.20pm, The Times

From net zero to year zero. The BP boss Murray Auchincloss, promised a “fundamental reset” and, at least on paper, he’s delivered. But only at the cost of blowing up his own credibility and that of the chairman Helge Lund.

How can anyone have any faith in this duo? In turning BP back to petroleum, they’ve just delivered a complete strategic U-turn on what they jointly presented five years ago — and without so much as an apology. Worse, the shareholders are going to have to pay for it again, with the penny finally dropping that BP cannot afford share buybacks of $1.75 billion a quarter — only able to manage as little as $750 million.

No board members need to resign. They will now destroy each other in a circular firing squad using ammunition provided by shareholders.

Todays announcements show their collective ‘group think’ supported BP’s green strategy. It shows they are all responsible for almost destroying the company. And they did it from their desks.

At least the Macondo accident was subject to a logical investigation and lessons were learned. Will the BP Board decisions be investigated? Of course not.

But now you can be sure boardroom executives are putting their individual needs ahead of BP’s collective goals. This willcreate a breeding ground for destructive power battles. This can completely halt any change, leaving the organisation paralysed.

“Why should I worry about collective goals,” a manager may ask, “when the top leaders are only looking out for themselves?”

“We screwed up and it cost shareholders $40 billion in market capitalisation” says BP boss. Never mind - nothing to do with me” says BP boss.

And no-one resigns/gets sacked?

Theaky - we’re all amazed the head of strategy hasn’t been fired.

Even a five year old child would know if BP cut production by 40 mbd Chevron, Exxon, Shell etc would replace it.

BP is finished - it takes years to rebuild oil & gas assets. All the key upstream staff have left. Game over.

Best option is for NOCS like SOCAR and EGPC to take over their interests and rid themselves of London wokery overhead.

Https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/02/23/bp-the-oil-industrys-biggest-loser-on-net-zero/

Quite right Uggy. Instead of ‘Holy Hill’ they should change name to ‘ merda di pollo’

Link to ‘when it hits the fan’ - broadcast on Radio 4 yesterday afternoon.

It’s about BP’s current predicament and doom-laden outlook.

https://search.app/TJRBxw9BzKQNgNag7