The moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico has begun to bite oilfield service companies, with market analysts now forecasting lower than expected spending on new projects in the region and pressure on drilling stocks.
Oil giant BP said it would cut three quarters of dividends, significantly reduce its investment program and sell $10 billion of assets to fund a planned $20 billion fund to pay for its Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Oil giant BP said it would cut three quarters of dividends, significantly reduce its investment program and sell $10 billion of assets to fund a planned $20 billion fund to pay for its Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Corrects to say three, not four quarters of dividends cut, in first paragraph
BP Plc on Wednesday agreed to a demand by U.S. President Barack Obama to pay $20 billion into a special fund to handle claims from its huge Gulf of Mexico oil spill and said it was suspending payment of dividends this year.
Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Wednesday following the previous session's strong rally, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.5 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.4 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.4 percent at 0944 GMT.
U.S. lawmakers blasted major oil companies on Tuesday for virtually worthless and cookie cutter plans to handle a deepwater oil disaster, with one top executive conceding the industry was ill prepared to handle big offshore spills.
U.S. lawmakers blasted major oil companies on Tuesday for virtually worthless and cookie cutter plans to handle a deepwater oil disaster as top industry executives testified on BP's massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Executives from other major oil companies turned on BP Plc and defended their own drilling practices during a U.S. congressional hearing on Tuesday as they sought to stave off new government regulations in the wake of BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Investors have become less bullish about the global economy but have not given up on riskier assets, finding equities as cheap as they have been since March 2009, a Bank of America Merrill Lynch poll showed on Tuesday.
Top competitors are expected to distance themselves from BP Plc on Tuesday as normally clubby oil industry executives gather for a Capitol Hill grilling on the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
The worst oil spill in U.S. history has created an unprecedented financial, legal, regulatory and environmental crisis for companies that operate in the Gulf of Mexico, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday.
Canadian energy companies operating offshore could face new regulations in the aftermath of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the more aggressive oversight may put their shares at risk.
BP expects the total bill for the clean up of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill to be $3-6 billion, an analyst briefed by the oil giant's Chief of Staff said in a research note on Friday.
The Dow and S&P climbed more than 2 percent on Thursday, with the Nasdaq not far behind as China's confirmation of strong export data relieved recovery concerns and helped lift the euro.
As hurricane season begins in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, forecasters are predicting higher-than-usual activity that could disrupt oil and gas production in the Gulf and hinder efforts to clean up the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
U.S. shares of oil company BP Plc rebounded more than 10 percent in early trade on Thursday, a day after plunging nearly 16 percent on mounting fears about how the company will cope with the massive costs of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Stock index futures pointed to a higher open for Wall Street on Thursday, rebounding from falls in the previous session, with futures for the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq up 0.9 to 1.1 percent by 0849 GMT.
Shares in oil giant BP continued to fall heavily on Thursday, hitting their lowest level since 1997, even as the company said it saw no justification for such a move.
BP Plc shares tumbled nearly 16 percent on U.S. exchanges to a 14-year low on Wednesday on rising fears about how the wounded company will cope with the massive costs of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.
BP Plc has bought terms such as oil spill from search engine providers including Google Inc to help direct Internet users to its website as it attempts to control the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
BP shares trading on U.S. exchanges fell more than 15 percent to a 14-year low on Wednesday on growing worries about the costs the oil company will incur after the Gulf of Mexico oil leak.
