BP seems to be selling anything they can to get cash and manage their debt. What’s next? Canada? BPX? More downstream?
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BP Management could not pour p@ss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel.
They spent $16B to fix up Texas City Refinery and then sell it to Marathon for $4B A brilliant move and it gets worse. Marathon sued BP for not fulfilling the contract.
BP spends $4B on purchasing Arco just to sell it for $1B.
Anything in the US that Lawler can’t poke his bit into is gone
I personally believe it is not up for sale because no company would take on it’s debt.
But if it happens and BP merges with another company it would be one of my biggest regrets. I was with Amoco during the merger and watching Amoco management being walked out the door when they were told they had positions was sad. I wanted to stay long enough to watch bp management get their just reward.
Arrogant and stupid is a poor way to run a company.
Angola must have a big fat target on its back right? Dirty Oil and high break-even??
Correct that BP’s internal dysfunctional dynamics and politics are the reason it’s where it is now. And doubly sad that the so called “Leadership Team” who got us in this shape will be deciding who goes and who stays. Some things never change.
The thing that stays in my mind is why are we laying off 25% of employees? That’s not sustainable long-term. Twenty-five percent???? And it’s mainly levels F and above - no frontline operations employees. So let’s think about this. The only situation I’ve seen such a drastic level of laying off people is AFTER a private equity firm buys a company and does some “efficiency” work to make the asset attractive to buyers. The other situation this happens is BEFORE a BOD decides to put the company up for sale and they want to look good to buyers. And remember 25% of management is being cut, while operations staff remains the same - very attractive to a buyer.
Known liabilities are already accounted for - literally with budget and financing. bp has figured out how to cover costs from Macondo and legacy assets RM manages. Same applies to Shell (let’s be honest, they have history as well). So that’s not a
show stopper. But, yes, there is the question of “what do Shell and BP get out of it?” Maybe ... Divest low margin businesses. Get rid of duplicative assets. Lay off redundant staff. Maybe ... nothing. Maybe ... a major rebrand? No longer Shell and their reputation. No longer bp and their reputation. A whole new company.
Agree it’s a struggle to see positives from a Shell/BP merger. Both have poor gearing ratios. Neither are very adept at making timely solid acquisitions. Although She’ll definitely a bit better than BP on that point. BP’s environmental liabilities are monstrous....E.g. Macondo Gulf response $$$$, Montana Anacondo Mining legacy, climate lawsuits (especially gulf coast). Shell is also a target for climate suits. But I suppose sometimes two unlikely prospects can creat a better outcome together than alone. Interesting speculation.....
I'm struggling to see what positives Shell would get from that.
BP-Shell might not have to compete directly with ExxonMobil. It could be the first low-carbon supermajor. But it’s just a fantasy imho. I won’t believe it until I hear chatter of wall street speculation. Or maybe someone can ask Mr. Looney on of his frequent all-employee conference calls 😂
Bp-Shell is tiny compared to Exxon-Mobil
Hmmm. A takeover of bp would be tricky. The UK government has repeatedly said it won’t approve a takeover of bp by a foreign-based company. But the rumor is Shell is planning to move it’s HQ completely to the UK. How would a Shell-BP megamerger compare to ExxonMobil? 🤷🏻♂️
Always a chance, debt wouldn’t necessarily bother a state-owned oil co.
Agreed. Just being hopeful I suppose.
BP’s debt makes it hard to merge with another company.
Sorry to say but EVERYTHING is on the selling block. Everything. But some assets like Canada and Wamsutter are proving hard to sell. The more pertinent question may be can a white knight for the whole corporation be found. Appears to be headed that direction based upon the signs.