(BP-.L) BP PLC Buy/Sell

RNS Number : 8209C

20 November 2009

BP p.l.c. - Transaction in Own Shares

BP p.l.c. - 20 November 2009

BP p.l.c. announces that on 19 November 2009 it transferred to participants in its employee share schemes 7,753 ordinary shares at prices between 386.00 pence and 500.00 pence. These shares were previously held as treasury shares.

Following the above transaction, BP p.l.c. holds 1,871,191,981 ordinary shares in Treasury, and has 18,756,749,485 ordinary shares in issue (excluding Treasury shares).

Enquiries: Fergus MacLeod, BP p.l.c. Tel: 020 7496 4632

This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

POSUKSWRKKRAAAA

By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Nov 19 (Reuters) - The head of the BP -ConocoPhillips joint venture seeking to build a huge Alaska natural gas pipeline said on Thursday he worries that the state government is doing too little to reduce the project's economic risks.
Uncertainties over long-term state tax rates, the fate of disputed leases at the Point Thomson oil and gas field on the North Slope and other matters should be addressed by the state of Alaska, said Bud Fackrell, president of Denali, the BP-ConocoPhillips company promoting the massive natural gas project.
Denali plans to hold an open season in 2010 to formally solicit potential natural gas producers' bids for shipping space in a yet-to-be-built pipeline, Fackrell said.
"I believe that Denali will have a high-quality cost estimate that shippers will have confidence in," he said in a speech at the annual conference of the Resource Development Council of Alaska. "I am, however, very concerned that we will have heavily conditioned bids at open season."
If that happens, Denali will likely have no control over the major conditions, he said.
"What does that mean for the project? It means delay. Delay after delay," he said. "We're hoping for success in that open season, but frankly, we need some help from other people."
TransCanada Corp, which holds a state gas-pipeline license entitling it to up to $500 million in state funding and other benefits, is promoting a competing plan.
TransCanada also plans a 2010 open season. Tony Palmer, TransCanada's vice president for Alaska natural gas, said his company also expects potential shippers' bids to be conditional. But he told the conference audience that he hopes TransCanada and new partner Exxon Mobil Corp will resolve those issues after the open season closes on July 31.
Alaskans have long sought a natural gas pipeline to ship the North Slope's vast reserves to markets. Up to now, economic barriers have kept the resource -- proven reserves of 35 trillion cubic feet and much more in potential finds -- stranded in North Slope oil fields, most of which have been pumping crude for decades.
The competing TransCanada and Denali proposals both envision a pipeline that would ship about 4 billion cubic feet a day to U.S. markets through Alberta. State officials estimate such a gas pipeline would cost over $30 billion.
Fackrell said he believes the federal government, long supportive of the project, is doing a good job to promote gas-pipeline plans.
However, climate legislation recently passed by the U.S. House does not provide enough incentives for major energy users to shift from coal to natural gas, he said.
"The problem with the climate bill is it gives special provisions to other energy sources, like coal," he said. A carbon cap-and-trade system can give natural gas -- and the Alaska project -- an edge, but only "if you stand back and say natural gas is the cleanest-burning fossil fuel, by a significant margin," he said.
Mark Myers, the Alaska state gas-pipeline coordinator, also said reworked climate legislation could brighten the project's prospects.
Myers said quick, significant reductions in carbon emissions are needed to avert a climate crisis. "Any logical, pragmatic approach to the problem requires us to use a lot more natural gas," he said told the audience.

(Reporting by Yereth Rosen; Editing by Marguerita Choy) Keywords: ALASKA NATGAS/PIPELINE

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LOS ANGELES, Nov 19 (Reuters) - More consolidation will hit the solar power industry next year, the chief executive of BP Solar, a unit of BP Plc, told Reuters on Thursday.
BP Solar CEO Reyad Fezzani said that BP Solar is not looking to acquire any solar power companies that may be up for sale as "we think they're the ones that should shut."
BP Solar expects to cut solar power panel costs faster than previously estimated, Fezzani said. The company could cut costs for panels by 25 percent a quarter or two earlier than its previous target of the end of 2010, the executive said.
Fezzani said BP Solar is seeing "very robust" sales for the first quarter of 2010 and expects Italy to be its top growth market next year.

(Reporting by Laura Isensee; Editing by Gary Hill) Keywords: BPSOLAR (laura.isensee@thomsonreuters.com; Los Angeles Bureau +213 380 2014)

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By Tom Doggett

WASHINGTON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Executives from two major oil companies told Congress on Thursday that the U.S. government should open more offshore areas to oil and natural gas drilling so America can rely less on foreign suppliers.
"There is some hypocrisy in locking these resources away while relying on resources produced in other countries," said Marvin Odum, the President of Shell Oil Co., the U.S. unit of Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
"Instead, we should embrace policies that provide access to our own oil and gas resources," Odum told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee at hearing on offshore energy production.
The U.S. Interior Department is considering a five-year plan that might open new offshore areas to drilling.
But many environmental groups oppose expanded offshore drilling, fearing oil spills could result, especially when energy companies move into the deeper waters of the Gulf of Mexico where platforms are susceptible to hurricanes.

"The potentially irreversible effects of oil pollution on marine ecosystems and their dependent economies do not justify the potential short-term economic gains that might accrue from offshore oil and gas development," said Jeffrey Short with the international marine conservation group Oceana.
The industry says improved drilling technology allows oil companies to search for supplies in an environmentally friendly way.

"These advances enable more production while reducing environmental impacts and allowing for efficient use of existing facilities and infrastructure," David Rainey, Vice President for Gulf of Mexico Exploration at BP America, the U.S. unit of BP Plc.
"Finding oil and gas for the future requires exploring in areas that are ever deeper and more complex," Rainey said.
The executives also said oil and gas supplies will still be needed even while the United States and other countries develop plans to fight global warming and promote use of more renewable energy sources like wind and solar power.
"We must stop ignoring the fact that oil and gas will play a major part in meeting America's energy demands for several decades as we transition to a more sustainable energy future," said Shell's Odum.

(Reporting by Tom Doggett; Editing by David Gregorio) ((tom.doggett@thomsonreuters.com; + 1 202 898-8320; Reuters Messaging: tom.doggett.reuters.com@reuters.net))Keywords: USA CONGRESS/DRILLING (For help: Click "Contact Us" in your desk top, click here or call 1-800-738-8377 for Reuters Products and 1-888-463-3383 for Thomson products; For client training: training.americas@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646-223-5546)

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BAKU, Nov 19 (Reuters) - BP-led group in Azerbaijan plans to shut down one of the five wells at the Shakh Deniz deposit, but reckons the move will not impede stable work at other wells, a spokeswoman for BP-Azerbaijan said on Thursday.
The problematic well was temporarily closed earlier this year due to technical problems, which led to a revision of gas production forecast at Shakh Deniz in 2009 to 7.2-7.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) from 9.0 bcm previously.
"A shutdown of one of the five wells at Shakh Deniz is planned, although work aimed at solving the problem is still under way. The other four wells give high gas discharges," Tamam Bayatly told Reuters.
She said the gas production forecast at Shakh Deniz was revised not just due to technical problems at the well, but also because of a seasonal decline in demand for gas in the summer period. An average production of gas at the deposit in the summer months was 14 mcm per day.
"Now, with the coming cold, demand for gas has increased and production from four wells in total reached 22 mcm per day," Bayatly said.
The Shakh Deniz deposit is co-led by BP and Statoil . SOCAR, Russia's LUKOIL, France's Total and Iranian and Turkish firms are also partners in developing the deposit.
The BP-led group produced 4.4 billion cubic metres of gas and 1.2 million tonnes of gas condensate at Shakh Deniz in January-September 2009.

Azerbaijan hosts some of the world's biggest oil and gas developments. It sells output to the domestic market, neighbouring Georgia and Turkey via the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipelines. Oil is also shipped via Russia's largest Black Sea port, Novorossiisk.

(Reporting by Lada Yevgrashina; writing by Margarita Antidze in Tbilisi; editing by James Jukwey) Keywords: AZERBAIJAN GAS/ (margarita.antidze@thomsonreuters.com, +995 32 983 961, Reuters Messaging: margarita.antidze.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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MOSCOW/LONDON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - British oil major BP said the candidate proposed by its oligarch partners to lead their Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, had won out over BP's candidate and that oligarch Mikhail Fridman would stay at the helm until 2011.
BP and AAR, a consortium representing the billionaire co-owners, said on Thursday that Maxim Barsky, currently TNK-BP's executive vice president for strategy and business development, would become CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2011.
Analysts said Barsky's appointment, which has been expected for weeks, highlighted how the Russian partners, previously largely sleeping partners in TNK-BP, had wrested operational control of the company from BP.
The last permanent head of the company, Robert Dudley, left Russia with a number of other expatriate workers at the height of a battle for control of TNK-BP between BP and AAR in summer 2008.
That row ended with BP agreeing to give its billionaire partners more control at TNK-BP.
When Dudley stepped down late last year, Tim Summers, until recently the firm's chief operating officer, became acting CEO.
Fridman, ranked Russia's fourth-richest businessman by Forbes, was appointed interim CEO in May.
Under the terms of the shareholder agreement between the two sides, BP has the right to nominate TNK-BP's CEO.
The London-based oil company nominated Pavel Skitovich, who ran gold miner Polyus Gold for five months in 2007 and worked as a Soviet diplomat in Uganda early in his career.
Skitovich and Barksy took up roles in TNK-BP, Russia's third largest oil producer, in May with a view to the partners agreeing at a later date who would be appointed.
After stepping down as CEO of TNK-BP, Dudley joined BP's board.
BP shares were 1.5 percent lower at 580 pence by 1539 GMT on the London Stock Exchange.

(Editing by Jon Loades-Carter) Keywords: TNKBP CEO/ (Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov and Tom Bergin, +44 207 542 1029, tom.bergin@reuters.com, Reuters Messaging tom.bergin.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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RNS Number : 7968C

19 November 2009

This press release is issued jointly by BP and the Alfa-Access-Renova consortium (AAR)

19 November, 2009

MAXIM BARSKY SELECTED TO BECOME NEXT TNK-BP CEO

BP and AAR today announced the appointment of Maxim Barsky as TNK-BP's next CEO. The TNK-BP board of directors unanimously agreed to appoint Maxim Barsky, TNK-BP executive vice president for strategy and business development, as the TNK-BP Group's future CEO, effective 1 January 2011. Until that time, Mikhail Fridman has agreed to continue to act as interim CEO, in addition to his role as executive chairman of the Board of Directors of TNK-BP Limited.

To deepen his international and industry knowledge, Maxim Barsky will spend the first five months of 2010 working in various upstream businesses at BP and BP's head office in London. As of 1 June 2010, he will return to TNK-BP in a senior executive role, joining the management team that has recently been strengthened by the appointment of Bill Schrader, former president of BP Azerbaijan, as TNK-BP's chief operating officer.

"This is a significant milestone in the development of TNK-BP," said Mikhail Fridman. "It demonstrates that the shareholders are united on strategy, governance and support for the company's robust operational and financial performance. We are particularly grateful to the independent directors on our board, who played an instrumental role in helping the shareholders reach this important decision."

Commenting on the selection, BP's CEO Tony Hayward said: "I am pleased that the shareholders of TNK-BP have agreed this plan. We are all agreed that Maxim Barsky has the capabilities to lead the company into its next phase of development, and confident that the further experience he gains in the coming year will fully equip him for the task of CEO."

"This succession plan is proof that the revised shareholder agreement for TNK-BP that was put in place at the beginning of this year is working well. It was preceded by a rigorous selection process involving all the independent directors, and was decided unanimously by the whole board. This demonstrates that there could be no clearer sign of shareholder alignment and support for management," added Gerhard Schroeder, an independent director, also speaking on behalf of TNK-BP's other independent directors Jim Leng and Alexander Shokhin.

In the six years since its foundation in 2003, TNK-BP has become an outstanding success story in terms of production growth, reserves replacement and cash generation. TNK-BP announced a net income of $1.7 billion for the third quarter of 2009, up 34 per cent on the previous quarter. It has recorded an industry-leading 130 per cent proved reserves replacement ratio over the last 3 years.

In the last year new fields such as Uvat, Verkhnechonskoye (VCNG) and Kamennoye have been commissioned and a major refinery upgrade programme is beginning to show excellent results. Costs have been reduced, contributing to a reduction in net debt by more than $1 billion over the past nine months, and production has grown for eight consecutive quarters.

Notes to editors:

Financial Times

MANDELSON SIGNALS END OF CREDIT SCHEME

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson signalled on Wednesday ministers will refuse business pleas to extend the five-billion-pound trade credit insurance scheme. Mandelson spoke of the "limitations" of the credit insurance scheme at a London press conference to highlight government measures to help businesses and individuals deal with the recession. He appeared to blame the insurance industry for the failure of the scheme. The scheme, which offered up to five billion pounds of state support, has supplied just 18 million pounds worth of cover to 72 companies.

WOMEN STRUGGLE TO BREAK INTO TOP BOARDROOMS

The proportion of female directors at FTSE 100 companies rose from 11.7 percent to 12.2 percent over the past year, according to a report by Cranfield University School of Management. The slight increase was due solely to an overall shrinkage in the size of boards, the report said. Cranfield said banks delivered the "biggest disappointment", with women making up just 9.3 percent of board members at FTSE 100 banks. Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland have no female board members at all.

MPC DIVIDED THREE WAYS OVER QUANTITIVE EASING

Minutes from the last meeting of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee show that seven of the committee's nine members voted for a 25 billion pound increase in the quantitive easing scheme. One member favoured a larger increase while one member argued that the scheme should be frozen. Bank of England governor Mervyn King was among those who voted for a 25 billion pound increase. The minutes also show the committee considered reducing the interest paid on a portion of commercial banks' reserves held by the Bank.

ITV CHAIRMAN SAGA ENDS WITH NORMAN APPOINTMENT

Archie Norman has been appointed as chairman of the broadcaster ITV. The appointment of Norman, a former Tory MP and former chief executive of Asda, brings to an end a seven month succession process for the broadcaster to replace Michael Grade. Norman's first tasks in his new role will include selecting a new chief executive and refreshing the board of the broadcaster, as well as considering whether to make a bid for rival broadcaster Five. Norman said: "It is an irresistible challenge, a great brand, a people business with enormous talent but facing an imperative for change: the challenge of adapting to compete in a fragmented digital media world."

TNK-BP SET TO EXTEND RUSSIAN PARTNER'S TENURE AS INTERIM

CHIEF

It emerged on Wednesday night that TNK-BP is likely to approve Mikhail Fridman to remain as acting chief executive of the oil joint venture between BP and a group of Russian tycoons until 2011. Maxim Barsky, a Russian oil executive in his 30s, has been approved by both sides as the permanent replacement for Fridman but due to his lesser experience will spend a year in preparation for the role, including a period with BP next year. An announcement from the oil group is due within the next few days.

L&G CLOSE TO THE END OF YEAR-LONG CHAIRMAN SEARCH

The board of Legal & General has identified its preferred candidate to succeed Sir Rob Margetts as chairman and is likely to make an announcement within days. According to people familiar with the matter, the life and pensions group's search led by Sir David Walker, L&G's senior independent director, included talks with a "string" of candidates, including Glen Moreno, chairman of Pearson; Ron Sandler, chairman of Northern Rock and Pearl Group; and Sir Crispin Davis, former chairman of Reed Elsevier. Up to three other candidates have recently gone further in the process but none are said to have been offered the job.

LLOYDS OFFLOADS MALL FOR 300 MILLION POUNDS

Hammerson has emerged as Lloyds Banking Group's preferred buyer for a shopping centre near Glasgow being sold by the bank after the original owner defaulted on its loan. The UK real estate investment trust is to buy the centre for around 300 million pounds in a joint venture with Canadian Pension Plan, a deal likely to represent a yield of around six percent on the one million square foot mall. Unsuccessful bidders for the centre included British Land and Land Securities along with several sovereign wealth funds and opportunity funds.

BOLLAND BECOMES M&S CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Marc Bolland has been appointed to succeed Sir Stuart Rose as the new chief executive of Mark & Spencer. Bolland will leave his role as chief executive of the supermarket chain Wm Morrison, walking away from around four million pounds of share options in the process. Sir Stuart Rose, who is to stay on as chairman of the retailer, said: "I am thoroughly and absolutely certain he's the right man for the job."

ITN SET FOR AUSTERITY PACKAGE

ITN is expected to reveal its first ever loss Thursday, with John Hardie, chief executive since June, to tell staff that the organisation lost "a significant amount" in the first half of the year. Sources who have viewed the accounts said the loss amounted to low single-digit millions of pounds. Job losses are expected at the company, and its final-salary pension scheme will close, with all current and new employees to be moved into a deferred benefit scheme as the company looks to "refocus activities and revenue streams".

MOTHERCARE TO LEAVE TOWN

Baby products retailer Mothercare is to shift its focus from the high street to larger out-of-town outlets as store leases come up for renewal over the next three years. Chief executive Ben Gordon said: "We're not deserting the high street but our out-of-town stores are our most profitable ones." The firm will launch 31 out-of-town "parenting centres" over the next three years, while up to 90 high street stores will be closed unless landlords renegotiate rents.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants
Keywords: PRESS DIGEST Financial Times Nov 19

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By Emma Farge

LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Russian oil company TNK-BP is looking at acquisitions or joint ventures as a means of growing in the oil refining sector, a senior company executive said on Wednesday.
In recent years, Russian oil firms have shown interest in acquisitions of refineries in eastern and western Europe to expand their businesses selling refined oil products and promote their crude oil exports.
"We are now in a position to see what inorganic opportunities may exist," Volker Woyke, TNK-BP's vice president of refining, told an industry conference in London.
Inorganic growth often refers to acquisitions or joint ventures.
Woyke said the company's refineries were running at 90 percent of their capacity.
This is higher than the average in Europe, where weak demand has forced refiners to lower their utilisation rates to an estimated 80 percent.
Some oil refineries have been put up for sale. These include Royal Dutch Shell's Stanlow in Britain and its Harburg and Heide in Germany as well as Grangemouth in Scotland, currently operated by Ineos.
Another Russian firm, LUKOIL, bought a stake in French major Total's refinery in the Netherlands in June.
Asked on the conference sidelines whether the firm was in talks to buy refineries in Europe, Woyke said: "we are speaking to many people like at conferences."
TNK-BP is Russia's third largest oil and gas producer and British major BP owns part of the company.
It has four refineries in Russia and one in Ukraine, with combined capacity of 600,000 barrels per day, Woyke's presentation materials showed.
He also said a new pipeline to export middle distillates via Black Sea ports would start in 2012.
"We have plans for a southern pipeline that will allow us to deliver middle distillates into Black sea ports....The pipeline is planned for 2012," he said.
Russia is the key supplier of middle distillates, such as diesel, to Europe. The new pipeline will boost export volumes further, which could hit refining margins for European refiners.
Some Russian refiners can now meet Europe's tighter environmental specifications for refined oil such as ultra-low sulphur diesel.
Woyke's presentation material showed TNK-BP exports 45 percent of its crude and 20 percent of refined products.

Woyke said TNK-BP is building hydrotreating capacity for desulphurisation at its Saratov refinery by 2012 to improve the quality of diesel to 10 per parts million (ppm) and 50 ppm sulphur content, matching European quality.
That is a part of a plan to invest $1.3 billion over the next five years to modernise its refineries, which are mostly simple and have a high yield of loss-making heavy fuel oil.
However, he cautioned about further upgrades.
"Our current five-year plan contains this (upgrades) as an option, not as a firm plan, and we are rolling our five-year plan at annual intervals. We will watch what's feasible and what's possible," he said.
Profit levels of oil refineries -- refining margins -- were unlikely to return to the record high levels seen in 2008, when he described the profits from downstream refining operations as almost almost matched those from upstream oil and gas production operations.
"We are robust in the sense that we can live in the current environment," he said, adding, "We may not be able to deliver the same level of EBITA (earnings before interest, tax and amortisation) as our dear upstream colleagues."

(Reporting by Emma Farge, writing by Ikuko Kurahone; editing by Anthony Barker) Keywords: TNKBP REFINERY (ikuko.kurahone@thomsonreuters.com; +44(0)20 7542 8145; Reuters Messaging: ikuko.kao.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Russian oil firm TNK-BP is looking at "inorganic" growth in the oil refining sector, a senior company executive said on Wednesday.
In recent years, Russian oil firms have shown interest in acquisitions of oil refineries in eastern and western Europe to expand their businesses to sell refined oil products and their crude oil exports further afield.
"We are now in a position to see what inorganic opportunities may exist," Volker Woyke, TNK-BP's vice president of refining told an industry conference in London.
He said the company's refineries were running at 90 percent of their capacity.
This is higher than the average refinery run Europe, where weak demand has forced refiners to lower their utilisation rates to an estimated 80 percent.
TNK-BP is Russia's third largest oil and gas producer and British major BP owns part of the company.
It has four refineries in Russia and one in Ukraine, with combined capacity of 600,000 barrels per day, Woyke's presentation materials showed.
He also said a new pipeline to export middle distillates into the Black Sea ports would start in 2012.
"We have plans for a southern pipeline that will allow us to deliver middle distillates into Black sea ports....The pipeline is planned for 2012," he said.
Russia is already the key supplier of middle distillates, such as diesel, to Europe. The new pipeline will boost the export volumes further, which could hit refining margins for European refiners.
Some Russian refiners can now meet Europe's tighter environmental specifications for refined oil such as ultra-low sulphur diesel.
Woyke's presentation material showed TNK-BP exports 45 percent of its crude and 20 percent of refined products.

(Reporting by Emma Farge, writing by Ikuko Kurahone; editing by James Jukwey) Keywords: TNKBP REFINERY (ikuko.kurahone@thomsonreuters.com; +44(0)20 7542 8145; Reuters Messaging: ikuko.kao.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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RNS Number : 7027C

18 November 2009

BP p.l.c. was notified on 18 November 2009, by Dr B.E. Grote, a Director of BP p.l.c., that on 17 November 2009 he exercised an option to acquire 25,000 BP ADSs (ISIN number US0556221044) pursuant to the Executive Directors Incentive Plan at $37.76 per ADS, which were exercisable between 17 February 2004 and 17 February 2010. Dr Grote subsequently disposed of the 25,000 ADSs acquired on 17 November 2009 at a price of $59.4957 per ADS.

This notice is given in fulfillment of the obligation under DTR3.1.4R.

This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

RDSCKFKPBBDDBDD

LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Britain's North Sea Bruce gas field is expected to restart production soon, operator BP Plc said on Wednesday. "It's still not producing now, but it's not long before it restarts," a spokesman said. The field has been offline since the middle of August. (Reporting by Kwok W. Wan)

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BAKU, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan increased its gas output in the first 10 months of 2009 by 1.0 percent, year-on-year, to 19.3 billion cubic metres (bcm), the State Statistics Committee said on Tuesday.
The committee said 8.2 bcm out of the total production was associated gas produced by BP-led group AIOC at the Chirag, Azeri and Guneshli oilfields in the Caspian Sea.
The rest was produced by the same consortium and the Azeri state energy firm SOCAR at Shakh Deniz deposit.
The Shakh Deniz deposit is co-led by BP and StatoilHydro . SOCAR, Russia's LUKOIL, France's Total . Iranian and Turkish firms are also partners in the developing the deposit.
Problems at Shakh Deniz deposit, where one out of five wells was closed earlier this year, led to a revision of the gas production forecast there in 2009 to 7.2-7.5 bcm from the previous forecast of 9.0 bcm.
Total production this year should reach 25-27 bcm, the government forecasts, up from 22.8 bcm produced in 2008.
Azerbaijan hosts some of the world's biggest oil and gas developments. It sells output to the domestic market, neighbouring Georgia and Turkey via the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum pipeline.

(Reporting by Lada Yevgrashina, writing by Margarita Antidze in Tbilisi; Editing by Angus MacSwan) Keywords: AZERBAIJAN OUTPUT/GAS (margarita.antidze@thomsonreuters.com, +995 32 983 961, Reuters Messaging: margarita.antidze.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Shares in Dana Petroleum rose more than 4 percent on Tuesday on market talk that BP was interested in the company, traders said.
Traders cited talk of a bid interest of 1,700-1,800 pence per Dana share. At 1138 GMT, the stock was quoted at 1,316 pence.
Both BP and Dana Petroleum declined to comment on the talk.
Nearly 850,000 Dana shares changed hands by 1145 GMT, against a 90-day daily average of 640,000 shares.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash, Blaise Robinson, Tyler Sitte and Julie Crust) Keywords: DANAPETROLEUM SHARES/ (atul.prakash@reuters.com; +44 20 7542 6189; Reuters Messaging: atul.prakash.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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RNS Number : 6157C

17 November 2009

BP p.l.c. - Transaction in Own Shares

BP p.l.c. - 17 November 2009

BP p.l.c. announces that on 16 November 2009 it transferred to participants in its employee share schemes 46,822 ordinary shares at prices between 386.00 pence and 500.00 pence. These shares were previously held as treasury shares.

Following the above transaction, BP p.l.c. holds 1,871,199,734 ordinary shares in Treasury, and has 18,756,598,392 ordinary shares in issue (excluding Treasury shares).

Enquiries: Fergus MacLeod, BP p.l.c. Tel: 020 7496 4632

This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

POSUBUBRKNRAARA

By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The federal official responsible for coordinating the planning of a proposed multibillion dollar Alaska natural gas pipeline resigned her position on Monday at the request of the Obama administration.
Republican Drue Pearce, a former Alaska state Senate president who has held the position since it was created by then President George W. Bush in 2006, she said will step down effective Jan. 3.
The Office of the Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation is reviewing competing plans offered by both TransCanada Corp and a joint venture formed by BP and ConocoPhillips to build a pipeline to ship the vast stores of natural gas on Alaska's North Slope to domestic U.S. markets.
TransCanada holds a state license to build and operate a pipeline and entitles the company to up to $500 million in state subsidies and other preferences, although it is not a contract or a commitment to build the project. TransCanada earlier this year acquired Exxon Mobil Corp as a partner in its gas pipeline venture.
BP, ConocoPhillips and Exxon are the major North Slope oil producers and holders of most of the leases to the known supplies of North Slope natural gas.
TransCanada is proposing to build a large-diameter, 1,700-mile (2,736-km)line carrying about 4 billion cubic feet a day from Prudhoe Bay to Alberta, where a gas pipeline hub already exists, but the company is also considering other options for the project, such as a liquefied natural gas alternative that would involve an 800-mile (1,287-km) gas pipeline to Valdez.
The BP-ConocoPhillips joint venture, called Denali, is also considering a large-diameter pipeline to Alberta as well as other options for the project.
State officials have estimated that a pipeline to Alberta would cost $30 billion.
Both groups plan to hold an open season next year to formally solicit bids from potential producers that would ship natural gas in a yet-to-be-build pipeline.
Alaska and federal officials have been working for three decades to find a market for the vast reserves of natural gas that lie in the North Slope's oil fields.
Although crude oil has been produced and shipped since 1977 through the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, the proven reserves of 35 trillion cubic feet of natural gas have remained stranded from markets.
Large quantities of natural gas are regularly pumped each day, along with the North Slope's oil, and re-injected into reservoirs to enhance oil recovery.

(Reporting by Yereth Rosen; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) Keywords: ALASKA PIPELINE/RESIGNATION (New York Energy Desk; + 1 646 223 6050)

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LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - BP Plc:

RNS Number : 5721C

16 November 2009

press release

November 16, 2009

APPRAISAL WELL CONFIRMS WESTERN EXTENSION OF

THE KASKIDA FIELD IN THE GULF OF MEXICO

BP today confirmed that an appraisal well to test a western extension of the Kaskida field has confirmed oil in Lower Tertiary reservoirs five miles to the west of the Kaskida discovery well. The well, drilled to a total depth of 32,500 feet, is located in Keathley Canyon block 291 in 5,675 feet of water and 250 miles southwest of New Orleans.

Appraisal activities will continue with a WATS (wide azimuth towed streamer) seismic acquisition survey in early 2010 and a well test in 2011. "This well builds on the success of our recent Tiber discovery to further strengthen BP's leading position in the emerging Lower Tertiary play in the US Gulf of Mexico," said Andy Inglis, chief executive, Exploration and Production, "and supports the continuing growth of our deepwater Gulf of Mexico business into the second half of the next decade." Kaskida is operated by BP, with a 70 per cent working interest, with co-owner Devon (30 per cent).

Further information:

David Nicholas, BP press office, London: +44 (0)20 7496 4708
Daren Beaudo, BP press office, Houston: +1 281 366 8346

RNS Number : 5296C

16 November 2009

BP p.l.c. - Transaction in Own Shares

BP p.l.c. - 16 November 2009

BP p.l.c. announces that on 13 November 2009 it transferred to participants in its employee share schemes 478,765 ordinary shares at a price of 595.20 pence. These shares were previously held as treasury shares.

Following the above transaction, BP p.l.c. holds 1,871,246,556 ordinary shares in Treasury, and has 18,756,522,470 ordinary shares in issue (excluding Treasury shares).

Enquiries: Fergus MacLeod, BP p.l.c. Tel: 020 7496 4632

This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

POSUOUWRKKRAAAA

By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Nov 3 (Reuters) - As long as energy companies participate in 2010's open season for a massive, yet-to-be-built Alaska gas pipeline, TransCanada Corp will be on track in its plan to construct the project and start delivering to U.S. markets by 2018, Alaska officials said Tuesday.
Even if energy producers' gas-shipping offers are contingent on fiscal concessions that do not exist, the open season will have been a success as long as TransCanada wins enough interest and confidence to continue work on the 1,700-mile Prudhoe Bay-to-Alberta mega-project, the officials said.
An open season that leads immediately into financing and project sanction is not a "litmus test" for TransCanada's success, said Alaska Revenue Commissioner Pat Galvin.
"They're looking for a level of commitment necessary to say, Is this project worth investigating further?'" Galvin said at a news conference.
For the state, any shipping offers, no matter what conditions are attached, "will produce us with a window into the types of things that need to be addressed to make this project successful," he said.
TransCanada, which earlier this year joined in a partnership with Exxon Mobil Corp, one of the three major North Slope oil producers, is the state's preferred pipeline sponsor and holder of a state license issued last year under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, or AGIA.
The act, pushed by former Gov. Sarah Palin, authorizes the state to provide up to $500 million in funding to TransCanada and forbids the state from entering into gas pipeline negotiations with any competing sponsors.
In return, it obligates TransCanada to hold an initial open season next summer, among other commitments.
By the time the 90-day open season starts next summer, TransCanada should have a firm estimate of the project cost and construction details, said Mark Myers, the state's AGIA coordinator. TransCanada had initially estimated the cost at $26 billion, but other estimates range as high as $40 billion.
It will be up to TransCanada and the oil companies with leases to the North Slope natural gas supplies to determine whether next year's shipping commitments are meaningful, Myers said.
"The success or failure of this open season is between these commercial parties," he said. The open season ends on July 31.
Galvin and Myers made their comments at a news conference in which they released a biannual progress report on the AGIA-licensed pipeline project. That report was mandated by the state legislature, where there is growing skepticism about the gas pipeline's prospects and the state's AGIA strategy.
Through fiscal 2009, which ended June 30, TransCanada had spent $17.5 million on the project, with $5 million of that expected to be reimbursed by the state under terms of AGIA, according to the progress report.
By the end of fiscal 2010, when the 90-day open season will be underway, TransCanada and new partner Exxon will have spent over $142 million on the project, according to the project report.
A prominent critic of the state's gas pipeline strategy, state Rep. Jay Ramras, disputed state officials' claims about TransCanada's progress.
"They are acknowledging, one year before the general election, that the open season is going to be a failure, and then they're trying to qualify it by lessening the degree of failure," said Ramras, a Fairbanks Republican who has launched a 2010 campaign for lieutenant governor.
"They are absolutely, explicitly telling us that it's going to fail. They are just trying to elevate the quality of the F."
Ramras said any commitments of natural gas into the proposed pipeline will conditional on what North Slope producers have termed "fiscal certainty" a stable regime for natural gas production taxes.
"A successful open season is when gas gets nominated and we don't have fiscal certainty as a Chinese wall between these commitments to ship gas," he said.
Competing with the TransCanada project is a similar proposal called Denali that is being sponsored by ConocoPhillips and BP, the other two major North Slope oil producers. That project is underway outside of the AGIA process.
The Denali group is expected within days to release a similar progress report, Ramras said.

((New York Energy Desk; Tel 646 223 6050))Keywords: ALASKA GAS/PIPELINE (For help: Click "Contact Us" in your desk top, click here or call 1-800-738-8377 for Reuters Products and 1-888-463-3383 for Thomson products; For client training: training.americas@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646-223-5546)

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