BP (NYSE:BP) Signs $340 Million Offshore Dilling Deal with Angola

BP Plc (NYSE:BP) has signed a two-year deal with Angola worth $340 million.

The oil giant will pay for a deepwater oil rig with that money, according to Odfjell Drilling, a Norwegian rig owner.

Odjfell's Deepsea Stavanger rig can drill at depths of up to 3,000 metres, and is reportedly ready to begin by the first half of next year.

BP has an additional three one-year options on the rig if it chooses to exercise them.

Drilling will be in Block 18 off the coast of Angola.

Mariner (NYSE:ME) Puts Soar on Rig Explosion Reports

With BP (NYSE:BP) fresh in the minds of traders, they were like sharks attracted to blood with Mariner Energy (NYSE:ME) puts, as news of their oil rig having an explosion and a resultant fire generated a feeding frenzy.

The highest amount of interest was with the September $20 strike, with over 21,000 lot changing ownership by 1:15 PM EDT.

At a glance, it looked like traders were buying and selling at a pretty comparable rate. The average premium was $0.86 each.

A little over 9,000 of the puts sold at that strike were probably the result of traders who engaged in panic buying earlier in the trading day.

The premium on September $20 strike puts soared as high as $4.30, once the share price of Mariner Energy dropped to their lowest after the news came out of the accident. At that price traders selling a little later would have only get $0.40 a contract.

Another approximate 2,400 puts were acquired at the September $22.5 strike, with the average premium being $1.28 each.

Conflicting and slow reports added a lot of fuel to the fire, and we're still waiting for a clear story as to what happened and the extent of the damage.

Mariner (NYSE:ME), Apache (NYSE:APA) Shares Drop on Oil Rig Explosion

An explosion and fire on one of Mariner Energy's (NYSE:ME) oil rigs, caused the share price of the company, along with Apache Corp. (NYSE:APA) to fall on the uncertainty created around the accident.

Apache Corp. was affected because they're expected to acquire Mariner Energy.

The oil rig owned by Mariner is named "Vermilion 398," wasn't producing at the time, and word is, once the Coast Guard checked things out, no oil leaks or sheen were found in the water surrounding the rig.

After the explosion, a fire started on the Vermilion, but that is all under control.

Mariner Energy was at fell to $22.58, losing $0.77, or 3.3 percent as of 12:43 PM EDT. Apache stood at $90.48, declining $1.98, or 2.14 percent at 12:45 PM EDT.

Correction: The oil rig did have seven actives wells with it, producing about 1,400 barrels a day on average.

BP (NYSE:BP) Drilling Engineer Won't Testify at Hearing

Being one of the key people and decision maker on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig leading up to its explosion, BP (NYSE:BP) drilling engineer Mark Hafle said he won't be testifying before in the hearings being held.

Another BP drilling engineer who presumably isn't as important in the decision-making process, Brett Cocales, will testify before the panel.

The federal panel investigating the accident is made up of the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulations and Enforcement.

The purpose of the joint panel is to find out the reasons behind the explosion on the oil rig, and ultimately to offer recommendations on how to prevent something like that from happening again.

Americans have a constitutional right on whether to testify or not, and Hafle exercised the right, the reason he's allowed to bypass the hearings.

BP (NYSE:BP) Gave Okay to Deepwater Horizon Use with 390 Overdue

When BP did an internal audit of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, it found about 390 overdue maintenance problems, yet still decided to go ahead and let it begin operations, leading to the explosion and ultimate consequences associated with it.

The 390 overdue maintenance problems were revealed by BP’s Gulf of Mexico marine authority, Neil Cramond, when talking to investigators from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and U.S. Coast Guard.

BP’s audit said: "With excessive overdue maintenance and the recent introduction of more maintenance routines, it would appear that the
maintenance department is struggling to stay in touch with the planned maintenance schedule."

Even so, the final decision on whether or not to put the rig into
operation was BP's, as Cramond admitted and confirmed when queried by a lawyer from Transocean (NYSE:RIG) at the hearing.

Much of this is being done to determine, what, if any, liability
Transocean and others may have in relationship to the damage done from the explosion of the oil rig, which killed 11 workers and gushed oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

One of the most important pieces of evidence, the blowout preventer, is still on the Gulf floor, and is being worked on now to detach from the pipe in order to bring it to the surface as it was when it went down with the Deepwater Horizon.

At that time a lot more clarity will be added to the situation to make decisions on overall liability and how far it will extend beyond BP.

How Will Obama Replace 46,000 Lost Jobs from Moratorium?

Outrage has been immediate at the bizarre obsession of Barack Obama and his administration in forcing a moratorium on oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, even after judges struck down the notion.

Others point to the fact the deepwater rigs in the Gulf have all been tested and found to be sound.

Even so, U. S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar made this strange comment: “I am basing my decision on evidence that grows every day of the industry’s inability in the deepwater to contain a catastrophic blowout, respond to an oil spill, and to operate safely. I remain open to modifying the new deepwater drilling suspensions based on new information, but industry must raise the bar on its practices and answer fundamental questions about deepwater safety, blowout prevention and containment, and oil spill response.”

This is in spite of the solid safety record in the Gulf, other than the obvious existing one, and the fact there is no "evidence" of any type to confirm the industry can't "operate safely." They can and have operated safely, and one accident doesn't imply or prove anything, other than there was one failure. This is after decades of working in the region and thousands of oil wells dug.

So to assert one error demonizes the entire industry is irresponsible and outrageous, and a large and growing number of people agree.

Obama's own party has in some cases abandoned him here, as Darrell Issa (Dem., California), has asked the White House to explain how they're going to replace the approximate 46,000 jobs that could be lost because of the ban.

No response from the White House. That's because they're clueless and reckless in this decision, and continues the arrogant disregard for the will of the American people.

Democrat Max Baucus Investigating Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Tax Practices

Democrat Max Baucus is playing the fool and wasting the taxpayers' time and money by allegedly launching an investigation into the tax practices of Transocean (NYSE:RIG).

This disgraceful action for someone who is abusing his place as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee should result in his ouster, as all he is whining about is the fact that Transocean moved their headquarters to Switzerland a couple of years ago in order to save on taxes.

Is this tyrant next going to go after all Americans who use tax breaks and legal loopholes in order to keep their hard-earning money, rather than have the government redistribute it? If anything is criminal it's the way politicians in America, especially Democrats, have spent away our children's' futures by running up deficits so high it's impossible to fathom by the sheer weight of the numbers, and which will be impossible to ever pay back.

Baucus outright lied when he said this, "...there are questions regarding the oil company's tax practices...."

Here's Baucus' tortured reasoning behind his false assertion: "Hardworking Americans pull their own weight by paying the taxes they owe every day and American companies must do the same."

In other words, Transocean is paying their taxes, and it bothers Baucus that they sought to lower their taxes by moving away from the outrageous taxes required in America. That's what he considers questionable tax practices.

Sounds as American as apple pie to me to do everything we legally can to lower our taxes.

While some reports stated Baucus hadn't accused Transocean of any wrongdoing, that's exactly what he did in his statement about Americans paying their taxes, as mentioned above.

He said that Americans must pay the taxes they owe, and American companies must do the same. If that's not saying Transocean isn't paying their taxes, then what is he saying. He obviously did say it, and by extension accused them or wrongdoing without any proof and before any investigation.

This is a draconian action, and an outrage and outright attack against a company that owns the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which is the one that exploded and which BP leased from them.

With so many important things going on in America, to have this clown waste taxpayer dollars in order to chase after bogus and dubious tax aversion claims should be enough to have all who area able to to vote him out of office ASAP.

All this because he thinks he can gain political capital out of it. It's going to backfire, and hopefully with a permanent removal from office by his constituents who deserve better from their lawmakers.

Goldman (NYSE:GS) Cuts Diamond Offshore Drilling (NYSE:DO), Possible Oil Leak as Well

Diamond Offshore Drilling (NYSE:DO) shares are under heavy pressure today as they were not only downgraded by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), but also may have an oil leak off of their Ocean Saratoga rig, based in the Gulf of Mexico.

Les Van Dyke, a spokesman for Diamond, referred all questions on the oil rig leaking to Taylor Energy, which is leasing the oil rig from them.

At the time of this writing, the Coast Guard said they were looking into reports of a new oil leak, but there hasn't been confirmation yet.

Diamond was down to $55.57, a decline of $3.64, or 6.15% percent as of 11:45 AM EDT.

BP (NYSE:BP) Containment Cap Working Better

Although BP (NYSE:BP) is making improvements on their marine riser cap, and they have captured approximately 16,600 barrels of oil from June 3 through June 5, they have been quick to note there are no guarantees they will be able to sustainably contain the well using this method.

It all comes back to their being no map to follow, as it's the first time anything has been tried at this depth in the ocean, so any short-term success can't be guaranteed, although any siphoning of the oil into a ship and keeping it from dispersing into the Gulf is good news.

BP officials say it could still be several days before they can fully understand the how successful they've been and how much oil they're going to be able to capture. They do have a goal and hopes of being able to capture 90 percent of the oil coming from the leak.

If BP can improve on the containment until the relief wells are dug which should halt almost all of the leak, they'll finally be able to manage the situation and focus more on cleanup.

Obama's Overreaction to BP (NYSE:BP), Oil Accident

It's incredible to see people so worked up over the oil spill, BP (NYSE:BP), oil industry, and even Obama, who has finally taken some criticism during his administration, and it of course would come from radical environmentalists and earth worshippers.

Just a few days ago an airplane went down with over 200 people losing their lives, and yet you didn't get a call to shut down the airline industry. But one large mistake and there's hysteria as these people who ignorantly believe the earth is their mother gnash their teeth and gleefully attack the oil industry and Obama over oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico, which just happens to have a ton of oil seep into it year after year; about four times in one year what the Exxon Valdez did years ago.

Now after getting some criticism from his base, and others, Obama now responds in a manner that is only politically motivated, and not based on what he really believes in.

Unfortunately, it's more important to mainstream media to hype and keep this story going, than it is for the lost lives of the workers on the Deepwater Horizon, or those on the recent airline crash.

Now the banning and stoppage of work on offshore wells and deepwater drilling will crush the oil industry, something the radical environmentalists have been waiting for for a long time.

It will also end with shortages and competitors from other countries grabbing the oil drilling ball and running with it.

Too bad at a time when Obama could have used his stubbornness for some good, he instead caved to the radicals and took steps to placate them rather than show some leadership by bringing balance to the situation, and not shut down everything in a world that can never be perfect.

ATP Oil & Gas (Nasdaq:ATPG) Down on Obama Drilling Ban

ATP Oil & Gas (Nasdaq:ATPG) is being crushed today on the news of Obama stopping drilling operations at 33 deep-water rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

The stock finished down by almost 4 percent, to $12.05, a 49 cent decline.

Obama has also halted the sale of leases in the Gulf of Mexico, obviously a move of political expediency.

Natixis Bleichroeder analyst, Curtis Trimble, said ATP isn't on the group of rigs being stopped, but the 6-month moratorium on permits could have a significant impact on the Telemark well, which could extend it to 2011, rather than in 2010.

Trimble rightly noted that selling off ATP was overreactive, and he maintains a buy rating on the company and a price target of $23.

Sarah Palin: BP (NYSE:BP) and Obama Connection

Sarah Palin lashed into Barack Obama this weekend for his cozy relationship with oil companies like BP (NYSE:BP), and others in the industry, saying it is Obama's Katrina in the way he responded.

Palin said, "I don't know why the question isn't asked by the mainstream media and by others if there's any connection with the contributions made to president Obama and his administration and the support by the oil companies to the administration."

Obama's lack of action in the beginning has been questioned by a growing number of people, saying his relationship with big oil has been too close.

Citing the response of mainstream media against President George W. Bush, Palin added if this was Bush, he would have been scrutinized much tougher than Obama has.

Obama has received the largest contribution from BP in the last two decades, getting $77,051 in one donation from them, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

According to Palin, this is why he took "so doggone long to get in there, to dive in there, and grasp the complexity and the potential tragedy that we are seeing here in the Gulf of Mexico."

Obama Shutting BP (NYSE:BP) Out of Government Contracts?

BP (NYSE:BP) (LON:BP) could find themselves locked out of U.S. government contracts after more data and information is gone over in reference to the oil spill resulting from the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

Evidently the Environmental Protection Agency had been in talks with BP over past conduct where they had violated the Clean Air Act, and of course the loss of 15 lives at the BP refinery in Texas City, and the oil leak in lines at the Prudhoe Bay Alaska division of the company.

It seems what is being implied here is if it's found BP was negligent in this case, and added together with past problems which may be considered a pattern, the administration could bar them from holding U.S. government contracts, which could cost them billions in revenue if that's what happens.

By definition, that would mean contracts offered to oil companies in federally controlled waters.

If that is extended beyond drilling for oil and natural gas, it could be even more devastating to the company, as the also have contracts with the U.S. in other areas, for example, one worth $1.1 billion, which supplies the Defense Department with aviation fuel.

BP (NYSE:BP), Transocean (NYSE:RIG) and Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Helping Nalco (NYSE:NLC) Grow

BP (NYSE:BP), Transocean (NYSE:RIG) and Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) are all hoping for the oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon explosion goes away, but in the interim, Nalco Holding (NYSE:NLC) is getting a nice bump in their unit which produces oil-dissolving chemicals or dispersants, which are being used to combat the oil slick forming from the leaking well.

At this time dispersants to battle oil spills are only 1 percent of the revenue of Nalco, but that's obviously about to change, as they've increased production by ten times normal in response to the disaster.

Shares in Nalco shot up quickly after news of the oil spill and that they would have a major part to play in helping manage it.

While dropping today, they seem to be ready to rebound again, although investors are probably understanding even with the increased business, it's only a small part of the company.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) on Government Oil Drilling Ban

Citigroup (NYSE:C) said today that a new ban on oil drilling permits would end up losing from 80,000 to 100,000 of barrels of oil equivalent a day.

These were based on estimates made from Wood Mackenzie Consultants.

It never fails that the government will step in with knee-jerk reactions like this based on one incident.

Sure it's tragic what happened in the Gulf, as the Deepwater Horizon explosion claimed 11 lives, and then fell to the bottom of the ocean floor, which resulted in the oil spill now attempted to be contained, but to stop all exploration and drilling permits does absolutely nothing.

This is part of doing business and providing fuel and energy for people. There is no way to make something perfect in this world, although it's a good thing to do everything to the highest level a business can to prevent something like this from happening.

What would be better would be to heighten efforts to improve all elements and products used on the oil drilling rigs in order to improve their performance even more.

When you consider that accidents at this level are extremely rare and have only happened several times in history, the idea that we need to shut things down as if it's an imminent danger is ignorant at best.

All we can do is do the very best we can to ensure a minimum number of these types of accidents happen. It's called being human. And that means there will sometimes be mistakes. No legislation in the world can ever change that from being the reality we live in, and always will live in.

BP (NYSE:BP) CEO Says Job in Jeopardy

BP (NYSE:BP) CEO Tony Hayward admitted today that his job could be in jeopardy as a result of the explosion on the oil rig Deepwater Horizon, which is spewing out oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Hayward said there is no existing pressure to step down from his position, but added that the circumstances could change quickly depending on the results of the response of the company going forward.

So far costs to stop the spill have exceeded £300 million, and it's increasing at a rate of £6 million daily.

There are over 5,500 vessels now combating the oil spill, with 5,000 of them small fishing boats who are laying 1.2 million feet of booms to protect the coastlines, 500 larger vessels are skimming oil off the surface of the Gulf, and an additional 4 Hercules aircraft which are spraying dispersants on the area.

If the second attempt to place a device over the leak doesn't work, which would attempt to bring the oil up to the surface to ships, then it's unclear what the next step would be, though some have thrown out the idea of somehow putting debris of some sort over the leak to "stuff" it.

BP (NYSE: BP) Pressured to Pay for Florida Ads

In a cynical move to take advantage of the oil spill off the coast of Louisiana, Florida Governor Charlie Crist is asking BP (NYSE:BP) to fork over $35 million to pay for an ad campaign telling potential tourists that the waters of Florida don't have any oil tainting the shorelines.

I know what, maybe Boston and other cities should do the same thing. Nice strategy if it works. Just put out an ad campaign saying the oil spill in Lousiana isn't affecting your beaches and BP will pay for it.

Allegedly "thousands" of fearful tourists have canceled or refused to make reservations to visit the area. That's even nutty when you look at it. Now BP is going to be pressured to pay for an ad campaign because people don't make reservations.

Every hotel and motel in Florida can send a bill to BP because people aren't making reservations there. Can they be that stupid? I guess Crist is, probably why he's getting clobbered in the ratings in the state.

The fact that we're still in a recession and people weren't going to book vacations at prior levels doesn't seem to compute with these people.

Talk about shaking down a company in an opportunistic way because they're being perceived negatively from press reports.

BP has already paid out $25 million for expenses related to the spill to Florida, now they want $35 million more to spend on advertising.

Crist had the gall to say he was going to use some of that $25 million already paid for the advertising campaign, but got the brilliant idea of shaking down BP for more.

According to the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, occupancy rates are normally at 90 percent or over this time of the year. Of course they didn't mention where they've been at during the recession, which most believe is still going on.

So the idea that Florida businesses should receive millions in advertising to market themselves in a way that says the oil spill hasn't hit there coastlines is ridiculous. Anyone watching the news knows that, and they're just making excuses because of the recessionary pressures on the state, which has been the culprit of their struggling businesses, not a make believe situation that BP is being asked to pay $35 million to counter via advertising.

Think of it. BP is being asked to pay $35 million so Florida can say something hasn't happened to them. I sure hope they don't cave in on this, or they'll be paying for every opportunistic politician trying to buy some votes.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Shares Under Pressure

Shares of Transocean (NYSE:RIG) continue to be under pressure, and a recent story in the Wall Street Journal that the company has accounted for almost 75 percent of all accidents on oil rigs since 2008 doesn't help their cause.

Now I would want to know the percentage of oil rigs Transocean is involved in before jumping to any conclusions, as they may be involved in so many, possibly far more than their competitors, that the 75 percent figure could simply represent the percentage of business done by the company, so the figure would make sense in that regard.

In other words, they may have a huge amount of market share which makes the numbers not unusual. I don't know that for a fact at this time, but it could skew the numbers to make them look irresponsible and careless, when it's possibly only based on having a larger share of the market.

Either way though, Transocean has been brought to the forefront of the oil industry, and it's not a place they want to be, or a place they necessarily understand how to operate in, as they obviously have no plan in place to deal with situations like this, and that's hurting their company in the public relations realm, which is hitting their bottom line as far as share price and loss of market value.

BP (LON:BP) Ready with Second Oil Containment Dome

BP (LON:BP) (NYSE:BP) is ready with a second oil containment dome, which is smaller than the first, but built to perform the same task, to stop the flow of oil leaking from the ocean floor in the Gulf of Mexico.

The new dome is on its way to the point where the oil is leaking, and BP said it hopes it will be ready to place it over the leak on Thursday.

Once its lowered almost a mile down, it will then be taken by robotic submarines and prepared to be placed over the leak.

The problem of ice blocking the new dome will hopefully be solved by the inclusion a design which will allow methanol to be pumped up into the dome in order to keep the ice from forming and blocking the flow of oil up through it to the surface.

A pipe about 500 feet long will have the oil siphoned through it, which would ultimately find its way to the surface to be collected there by ships.

Cameron International (NYSE:CAM), BP (NYSE:BP), Halliburton (NYSE:HAL), Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Blaming One Another for Accident

Cameron International (NYSE:CAM), BP (NYSE:BP), Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) and Transocean (NYSE:RIG) are all pushing the blame toward one another as the potential fallout from the explosion, loss of life, and oil spill on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig are staggering, and the oil companies are attempting to defensively position themselves as hearings begin.

Cutting through all the talk and hype, at this time the bottom line seems to be that there is no evidence yet as to what caused the explosion and accident, and it'll take time to examine everything and come to a conclusion.

What oil companies are doing now is attempting to cut into the narrative which has taken on a life of its own, and could be devastating for some of those where conclusions are already being made before any evidence is examined and determinations made.

In other words, this is public relations rather than proof, and understandable as to why these companies are trying to stop the story before it is considered as true, even before there is any real evidence to the contrary.