BP - BP plc (ADR) (NYSE Stock)

[BadThad]

LONDON--U.K.-listed energy giant BP PLC (BP) said Friday it will buy back $8 billion of its shares, returning some of the proceeds to shareholders of the sale of its stake in Russian joint venture TNK-BP Ltd. to OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS).
The buyback will offset the anticipated dilution in earnings per share resulting from the sale of BP's half of TNK-BP, which closed on Thursday, said BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley in a statement. Prior to the agreement of the sale late last year, TNK-BP generated around 30% of BP's oil and gas production and just over a quarter of its net profit.
The buyback returns the whole of BP's initial investment in TNK-BP a decade ago to shareholders, the company said, on top of $19 billion in dividends received from the highly profitable but turbulent partnership with a group of Soviet-born billionaires over the period. BP retains another $4.48 billion in cash received for its half of TNK-BP, which it said it will use to pay down some of its debt.
As a result of the sale, BP is also left with a 19.75% stake in Rosneft, now the world's largest listed oil producer, which it says will form the foundation of a long-term alliance between the two companies.
"We expect our stake in Rosneft will generate long-term value for BP and its shareholders," said BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg in a statement.
At a briefing in London on Thursday, Rosneft and BP said they were close to forging a long-coveted partnership to explore for oil in Russia's Arctic waters.
On Thursday, Rosneft paid BP $16.7 billion in cash and 12.8% of Rosneft shares for its 50% stake in TNK-BP. Rosneft also paid the group of billionaires behind the Alfa-Access-Renova consortium $27.7 billion for their half of TNK-BP.

[BadThad]

Probably a good thing:

BP Seeks To Sell US Wind Power Business; To Focus On Oil & Gas
11:39a ET April 3, 2013 (Dow Jones) BP Seeks To Sell US Wind Power Business; To Focus On Oil & Gas

By Selina Williams

LONDON--BP PLC (BP.LN) Wednesday said it is seeking to sell its U.S. wind energy business as part of efforts to re-focus on oil and gas and reposition the company for growth in the future.
BP has built one of the largest wind businesses in the U.S. As such, any subsequent divestment will be the subject to attractive offers being received, BP said in a statement. The company didn't say how much it expected to get. A report in U.K. newspaper the Financial Times estimated the assets to be worth around $1.5 billion.
Included in the marketing process are BP's interests in 16 operating wind farms located in nine states that have a combined generating capacity of approximately 2,600 megawatts of renewable power, as well as a portfolio of projects in various stages of development including some 2,000 megawatts of projects that are nearly shovel ready.
In the last five years, BP has invested more than $55 billion in U.S. energy development, almost $15 billion more than its nearest competitor, and more than BP invests in any other country.
BP is the second largest producer of oil and gas in the U.S. and a major oil refiner.

Current stock price: $41.28 (4.87% yield)

[greencat]

BP setting up for a possible bearish head and shoulders pattern.

BP Chart

[BadThad]

Watch for a dip below $40, great buy below that!

Current stock price: $40.24

[BadThad]

U.K. energy giant BP PLC Tuesday posted a more than threefold increase in profit for the first quarter as proceeds from the sale of Russian joint venture TNK-BP offset a fall in oil and gas production and downtime at the company's key Whiting refinery in Indiana.

"These strong first-quarter results demonstrate the progress BP is making...and underpin our commitment to material operating cash flow growth by 2014," said BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley.

The London-based oil and gas company said its replacement cost profit, a figure that excludes gains or losses in the value of inventories and is therefore equivalent to the net profit figure reported by U.S. oil companies, was $16.60 billion in the three months ended April 30, compared with $4.78 billion in the first quarter of 2012.

First-quarter earnings were bolstered by the sale of BP's half of TNK-BP to OAO Rosneft , which completed March 21, for a total consideration of $27.5 billion in cash and Rosneft shares. BP now holds a 19.75% interest in Rosneft. The 11 days of earnings from Rosneft attributable to BP in the first quarter were estimated at $85 million.

The gain on the sale was $15.5 billion, of which $12.5 billion was recognized in the first quarter. The rest of the proceeds will be released to the income statement over time, BP said.

Excluding the proceeds of the TNK-BP sale and other one-off gains, the company's profit was $4.22 billion, down 9.4% on the year and above average expectations of $3.25 billion in a Dow Jones Newswires poll of nine analysts.

Excluding TNK-BP and Rosneft, BP's total oil and gas production was 2.330 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, a 5% decrease on the year due mostly to other asset sales, and slightly above analyst expectations of 2.322 million barrels of oil equivalent a day.

The company announced a quarterly dividend of 9 cents a share to be paid in June. Group revenues were $107.21 billion, compared with $97.42 billion in the first quarter of 2012. Diluted earnings per share were 87.61 cents, compared with 29.97 cents the previous year.