BP has something to cheer about. After the spate of litigation issues and counter claims issued against the company, BP was able to reach a $4bn out of court settlement with Anadarko Petroleum, one of the minority partners in the ill faced Mancondo well. This would add pressure on the other partners, Halliburton and Transocean, to follow suit and drop litigation concerns for BP.
The Q3 earnings and the production will take an impact due to absence of high margin barrels from the gulf. A mean of $4.9bn is the expected earnings for this quarter, which is a decline of 11% on the same period last year.
However, BP has good news to look forward to. The balance sheet of the company looks healthy, with a heady cash of $18.7bn in hand. Also the $4 bn from Anadarko will allow BP to end it payment into the $20bn compensation trust that was set up after the oil spill, one year ahead of schedule. Also BP has secured approval from UK government to develop Claire ridge project in North Sea and is now waiting for approval to return to drilling in Gulf of Mexico.
The shares of the company is currently nudging near the 420p level
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