BP Pays $10.5 bln for BHP Shale Assets
BP Plc has agreed to buy U.S. shale oil and gas assets from global miner BHP Billiton for $10.5 billion, expanding the British oil major's footprint in some of the nation's most productive oil basins in its biggest deal in nearly 20 years.The acquisition of about 500,000 producing acres marks a turning point for BP since the Deepwater Horizon rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, for which the company is still paying off more than $65 billion in penalties and clean-up costs."This is a transformational acquisition for our (onshore U.S.) business…
Two Risks Threaten Commodities: Russell
It's not quite time to run up the red flags, but some recent developments in commodity markets suggest it may be time to start looking for them in the locker. The are two main factors that appear to be emerging that may threaten an end to the current quite rosy picture surrounding demand for commodities such as iron ore, steel and the metals most exposed to the battery boom, cobalt, lithium and nickel. On the supply side, there is a renewed rush of optimism that may set off another round of mining companies over-paying for assets or sinking way too much capital into projects approved on the back of too bullish forecasts.
ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell Paid No Tax in Australia for 2016
Oil, gas giants paid no Australian tax in 2016; but commodity rebound seen boosting tax revenue in 2017. Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp paid no tax in Australia in the 2016 financial year, the third year in a row, despite reporting billions of dollars in income from operations in the country, a report from the tax office showed on Thursday. Exxon Mobil, which has oil and gas production in the Bass Strait and a stake in the giant Gorgon LNG project among other assets in Australia, reported A$6.7 billion ($5.0 billion) in income, but it reported a loss for taxable income and paid no tax, similar to the previous two years.
BHP Profit Surges, but Looks to Exit U.S. Shale
Underlying net profit jumps to $6.7 bln from $1.2 bln. BHP Billiton, the world's largest miner, reported a surge in underlying full-year profits on Tuesday and said it would exit its underperforming U.S. shale oil and gas business, pleasing disgruntled shareholders who had called for a sale. The Anglo-Australian mining giant, which is under pressure from U.S. hedge fund Elliott Management to rethink its investment in oil and boost shareholder returns, was buoyed by a recovery in industrial commodities markets. It generated more cash than even in some years of the mining boom…
BHP Chairman Calls $20 Bln Shale Investment a Mistake
BHP Billiton's Chairman Jac Nasser said on Thursday BHP's $20 billion investment in U.S. shale oil and gas six years ago was, in hindsight, a mistake. BHP entered the shale business at the height of the fracking boom in 2011 and invested billions more developing the operations. The fall in oil prices since then has led to pre-tax writedowns of about $13 billion on the business. Activist shareholder and hedge fund Elliott Management, holding 4.1 percent of BHP's London-listed shares, has been trying to gain support from other shareholders to persuade BHP to sell the shale oil and gas business.
Elliott Presses BHP to Shed Petroleum
BHP petroleum business has value of more than $20 billion. Activist investor Elliott Management raised the pressure for strategic changes at BHP on Tuesday, calling for an independent review of the mining giant's petroleum business. Elliott, which has built up a 4.1 percent stake in BHP's London-listed arm and is urging changes to boost shareholder value, said there were clear signs the market was receptive to a new strategy for BHP. "There is extremely broad and deep-rooted support for pro-active steps to be taken by management to achieve an optimal value outcome for BHP's petroleum business following a formal open review…
Some BHP Shareholders Want Firm to Shed Shale
BHP Billiton is facing pressure from two activist shareholders over its $20 billion splurge on U.S. shale oil and gas fields, but may resist calls to dump the business just as oil prices are sliding. Investors grumble that while BHP Billiton is a good operator in deepwater oil and gas, its shale business, first acquired in 2011, has been a capital drain and shareholders would be better off with a sale. But now may not be the right time. BHP says it sees petroleum as a core business, including most of the shale operations. "The risk is doing it for the wrong reasons - because people are telling you do it - and getting out quickly. We're at $40 oil.
BHP Billiton, Pemex sign Trion Contract
BHP Billiton has advanced its exploration and production interests in the Gulf of Mexico by executing a contract with PEMEX Exploration & Production Mexico (Pemex) to complete work on the significant Trion discovery in Mexico. In December 2016, BHP Billiton successfully bid on the resource that, once fully appraised, is expected to be in the top 10 fields discovered in the Gulf of Mexico in the last decade. The agreement includes a commitment to deliver a Minimum Work Program, which consists of drilling one appraisal well, one exploration well and the acquisition of additional seismic data.
BHP Billiton Chairman Will Not Stand for Re-election
CEO says aspirational goal for "gender balance" at all levels. BHP Billiton Chairman Jac Nasser will not seek re-election at next year's annual general meeting (AGM), he announced on Thursday. Nasser said he had intended to announce his retirement last year but agreed to stay on at the mining company to provide stability as BHP Billiton responded to the Samarco dam disaster in Brazil. Now that the "basic structure of the Samarco response is in place," he will not seek re-election, Nasser said in a speech at this year's AGM in London. Nasser did not name his successor but said he would continue to lead the board in the interim.
BHP boosts exploration spend as focus narrows to oil, copper
BHP ups exploration budget to $900 mln; focus on oil and copper. BHP Billiton plans to lift exploration spending by 29 percent next year, allocating nearly all its $900 million budget to finding oil and copper, as big miners bet on a narrow pick of commodities to drive future growth. Miners fret about future production even in years of huge oversupply. But the move by the world's biggest miner to lift exploration spending signals a shift away from the mergers and acquisitions that some in the market had expected would help drive growth after prices collapsed.
How Did the World's Miners Not See it Coming?
With this simple question, posed to Professor Luis Garicano of the London School of Economics in November 2008, Britain's Queen Elizabeth famously summed up the layman's astonishment that an obscure part of the derivatives universe could trigger a global financial crisis. A similar question might be posed of the world's miners right now. Having collectively bet the house on a commodities "supercycle" only to see the "super" part of that cycle dissolve in front of their eyes, they are now fighting the numerous fires engulfing their overstretched balance sheets. They simply don't appear to have seen it coming.
BHP, Vale CEOs Visit Brazilian Mine Disaster Site as Toll Mounts
The chief executives of BHP Billiton Ltd and Vale SA on Wednesday surveyed the devastation caused by burst dams at a Brazilian mine owned by the mining giants, as the human and environmental toll from the disaster mounted. Six people are confirmed killed and another 22 are missing as a result of the ruptures at an iron ore mine in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais nearly a week ago. The search for more victims is continuing along nearly 100 km (62.5 miles) of mud-caked floodplain. Authorities in Minas Gerais and Espirito…
BHP Billiton to Maintain Progressive Dividend Policy
BHP Billiton , the world's biggest miner, said on Thursday that it remained committed to its dividend policy and expected its balance sheet to stay strong. BHP hiked its dividend despite reporting in late August a 52 percent slump in its underlying attributable profit to $6.42 billion for the year to June, below analysts' forecasts of around $7.73 billion. "We will not risk the balance sheet ... At this point in time, our balance sheet is strong," BHP Chairman Jac Nasser told the annual shareholders' meeting in London. He said the company had raised its full-year dividend by 2 percent in U.S.
BHP Billiton Profit Dives to 10-year Low
Underlying annual profit down 52 percent; BHP to cut FY2016 capital spending to $8.5 bln. BHP Billiton reported its worst underlying profit in a decade on Tuesday, gutted by plunging iron ore, copper, coal and oil prices, and said it would cut spending more deeply to shore up dividends. BHP and its peers have been hit after they hiked output of iron ore, copper and coal just as demand growth slowed in China, the top global metals consumer, and have been slashing costs over the past three years to cope. The world's biggest miner reiterated its pledge to never cut its dividend…
Weak Commodity Prices Batter BHP Strategies
Dismal outlook for BHP's commodities. BHP Billiton's strategy of diversifying across commodities was designed to shield the miner in a volatile sector, but its entire suite of products suffered double-digit price falls in the latest half-year. Unlike rivals which rely on one or two minerals, the world's biggest miner has 10 major commodities, including its so-called "four pillars of growth" - iron ore, copper, petroleum products sand coal. All four are currently at multi-year lows and forward price curves charted by Reuters suggest that is unlikely to change soon.
BHP: Deeper Cuts to Battle Low Pricing on Tap
BHP Billiton said on Tuesday it would slash its iron ore production cost further and cut spending to better withstand a downturn in commodity prices that is testing even mining industry heavyweights. Giant iron ore producer BHP, the world's largest mining company, and rival Rio Tinto are locked in a battle to become the lowest cost iron producer. At the same time, they are increasing production of the steel ingredient, hoping to squeeze out competitors and gain market share. BHP Billiton Chief Executive Andrew Mackenzie dismissed criticism that such a strategy was fuelling the sharp slump in iron ore prices.
BHP Billiton Slashes Shale Drilling Amid Oil Crash
BHP Billiton said on Wednesday it would cut its shale drilling spend over the next six months as it looks to meet its promise not to cut dividends in the face of a collapse in iron ore, copper and oil prices. The world's biggest miner said it would pare the number of rigs it is using to 16 from 26 by June 2015 and would update the market on its revised shale drilling budget, originally set at $4 billion for this financial year, in February. It plans to focus on drilling in the liquids-rich Black Hawk basin, while cutting back in the Permian and Hawkville acreage.
BHP Billiton Focus on Operation & Productivity
* BHP Billiton is now targeting US$4 billion of annualised productivity gains in its core portfolio by the end of the 2017 financial year, a US$500 million increase on previous guidance. * Improved capital productivity will allow planned investment to be reduced from US$14.8 billion to US$14.2 billion in the 2015 financial year and to US$13 billion in the 2016 financial year with no change to expected production growth. * In Copper, productivity initiatives including low cost debottlenecking projects are expected to offset grade decline over the medium term.
BHP Billiton Eyes Sale of US Shale Gas Assets
BHP Billiton is planning to sell its Fayetteville shale gas assets in the United States, the mining and energy group said on Monday, in the latest effort to trim its portfolio in the region and focus on more profitable petroleum liquids. The petroleum division of BHP, the world's largest miner, is one of the largest foreign investors in the U.S. onshore oil and gas sector. The unit has grown in importance within BHP in the least few years, thanks to a market outlook that has been brighter for energy than for other commodities.
BHP Announces Spin-off, Delays Share Buyback
Spin-off includes some nickel, coal. The world's biggest mining company, BHP Billiton , announced plans to spin off businesses worth an estimated $16 billion, most of them acquired in its 2001 merger with Billiton, to focus on its most profitable activities. But it held off on a share buyback, disappointing investors who had hoped to receive around $5 billion. BHP's London-listed shares fell 4 percent. Chief Executive Andrew Mackenzie, in the top job for just over a year, said the widely expected move to simplify BHP around the "four pillars" of iron ore, copper, coal and petroleum would spur cashflow growth and boost returns.
