Exxon (XOM) Spill Estimated at Up to 1,000 Barrels

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) has stopped the oil spill in the Yellowstone River, with estimates the amount of oil escaping into the river was at worst, about 1,000 barrels.

Company spokesman Alan Jeffers said, "It's unlikely there's any oil in the water at this point." Adding, "That doesn't mean we know where it all is." According to Jeffers there were 125 workers on the ground on Monday. He concluded it's not likely the river will suffer further impact from the spill.

Exxon officials, along with the government, speculate the cause of the spill was debris from the river bottom damaging the pipeline as it became exposed because of high waters. That has yet to be confirmed.

Exxon said on Monday they've only found one incident of wildlife damage that has been reported. That hasn't kept the media from running a picture of one turtle and some pelicans with alleged oil on them.

Representatives from International Bird Rescue were coming to the area in order to assist in case "any wildlife rescues that might arise." That can't be taken seriously with the little damage in that regard, and can only be considered a media opportunity to raise money.

These so-called rescuers need to go the the "green" industry in order to save birds, which are destroyed by the hundreds of thousands every year in America by wind turbines.

A few pictures of the mangled bodies of bats and birds will change the perception of the wind industry, rather than the few pictures of animals and birds that occasionally get harmed from oil spills.

As for the spill in the Yellowstone River, the length of the spill is all over the map, as it has been said to spread from 10 miles to up to 100 miles across the river.

Shell (NYSE:RDS-a) CEO Blasts BP (NYSE:BP) Report

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (NYSE:RDS-a) chief executive officer Peter Voser came out swinging today against the design of the well used for Macondo and the way BP (NYSE:BP) conducted the investigation into the reasons why it failed.

Voser's conclusion that BP used less expensive options in order to increase profits at the expense of safety lines up with the conclusions of lawmakers in the U.S. that in part is seemed part of the BP practices at this particular oil well.

"Shell clearly would have drilled this well in a different way and would have had more options to prevent the accident," asserted Voser. He was talking about using more barriers than BP did to prevent leaks in the design of the well.

Concerning Shell's projects in the Gulf of Mexico, Voser said they would be more selective in who they worked with, making sure the companies had the expertise and ability to help pay for the costs if an accident were to occur.

That was and is a major problem for BP, which is struggling to get some of their smaller partners to pay. And even if and when they pay, there will be limitations on how much they will be able to pay.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG), Anadarko (NYSE:APC) Jump on FBR Capital Comments

Comments from analysts at FBR Capital concerning the liability of Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:APC) in the BP (NYSE:BP) oil spill, caused the share prices of the companies to move up, with Transocean exploding upward.

In the case of Transocean, the big move seems to be related to the share price being discounted too much, with investors thinking they would be liable for up to $7 billion.

FBR believed they're more likely to come to a settlement with BP for somewhere from $1 billion to $2 billion at top, which grabbed the attention of investor who stampeded to the stock, which is already far above the 3-month trading volume average.

"...we believe it seems reasonable to assume that Transocean might settle with BP for between $1 billion and $2 billion," said FBR Capital analysts.

In the case of Anadarko Petroleum, which owns 25 percent of the Macondo oil well, FBR said they think they'll settle with BP from between $2 billion to $4 billion.

BP's (NYSE:BP) Quarterly Report to be Released Week Later

BP said the release of their third quarter report will be put off by a week because of the cost related to the Gulf oil spill, making it much more complex than usual.

Usually BP releases their report on the last Tuesday of the month at the end of the quarter, which would have made it October 26. They pushed that back to November 2.

A BP spokesman said it was only related to the inability to finish the report on time, and not because they had found some new liabilities. They just want to be sure they have the time to complete the report.

There was no hint from BP on what the contents of the report will entail.

BP (NYSE:BP) Report Clearly About Avoiding "Gross Negligence"

There is no doubt the biggest concern of BP (NYSE:BP) is to be found "grossly negligent" concerning the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which would add billions in fines to the company, on top of the billions already paid out, and the billions committed to in the future.

With that in mind, their report on the causes of the Deepwater Horizon accident definitely was a marketing piece, although it did deal with legitimate issues.

Any report will go through similar possibilities that BP went through, creating probabilities concerning other companies who had worked on, provided equipment for, or had a stake in the well.

The report really points to those possibilities, and in some cases, points directly to specific companies and their alleged failures.

BP did what it meant to in the report, which was to give believable testimony as to real causes, while at the same time spreading the fault around to others having a part in the oil rig and well.

Now the onus will be on future reports to refute BP's assertions, which is made harder by the majority of failures being directed to others.

It's made harder because every assertion by BP will now have to be proven false if it is to point back to them.

This is really their last shot. This report, and future investigative reports from others, will determine how BP is designated in the incident, and how liable other parties are.

It'll be difficult to place all the blame on BP from an evidence standpoint, now that they've pointed out these series of failures which led to the destruction of the oil well, loss of life, and spewing of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

In a sense, this report rests their case, and now it's in the court of the rest of the participants and investigators to disprove what their findings were.

If BP can avoid being found in "gross negligence," they'll save billions, if others are found at fault, it'll spread the costs among them as well, saving even more billions. BP had nothing to lose, and this is one thing they did right, whether people like it or not.

Fitch Raises BP's (NYSE:BP) Rating Up Three Notches

After gaining control of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Fitch has raised the credit rating of BP (NYSE:BP) up three notches.

Both the senior unsecured rating and long-term issuer default rating were raised from BBB to A, said Fitch in a statement. They also said their outlook on the oil giant is stable.

Fitch said, their increase of the ratings and outlook “reflect an end to the threat of leaks from the Macondo well." They added it “also reflects both the improved visibility of potential liability scenarios” and “substantial progress that BP has made to date in building up liquidity to address potential financial payments.”

In the midst of the oil spill, on June 15, Fitch has slashed BP's rating by six levels to BBB. That's only two levels above junk. That was related to the uncertainty of the costs and level of debt that may have had to incur in order to pay for the accident.

While BP does have credit available in case of emergencies, they've chosen to primarily raise funds by divesting of assets, which also helps strengthen the credit outlook for the company now that the well has been plugged.

BP (NYSE:BP) Replaces Damaged Blowout Preventer with New One

One of the final steps in the process toward permanently plugging the damaged oil well by BP (NYSE:BP) has been achieved, as they have replaced the failed blowout preventer with a new one on Friday, setting the stage for the final stage of the "bottom kill," which will pour cement and mud into the well to complete the job.

The removed blowout preventer was taken on a journey of about one mile to the surface, where it has been taken possession of by government authorities who will eventually have it examined in order to find out the reasons it failed to stop oil from being released into the Gulf of Mexico.

Thad Allen, the government lead on the response, said the process went smoothly, and there was no discernible oil which leaked while the exchange was being performed.

"During the period of time between the removal of the damaged BOP and installation of the replacement BOP, there was no observable release of hydrocarbons from the wellhead," Allen said.

A new blowout preventer was decided to be put in place in order to ensure it can handle the pressure when the bottom kill is being done. Pressure will result from the relief well intersecting the damaged well, and they wanted that covered to be sure there wasn't a new oil spill into the Gulf.

So What if BP (NYSE:BP) Increased Advertising Expenditures

I'm not sure what the story is here, but somehow Democrats feel they have the right to look into the amount of money BP (NYSE:BP) spends on advertising.

For the three months since the Gulf oil spill, which started on April 20, BP spent over $93 million on advertising, three times what they did the year before.

And the point is what?

The idea of wasting time on how much BP is spending on their advertising is ridiculous and irresponsible, when we face real issues in this country.

I'm not sure what they're even revealing this information to the public for, and what it has to do with anything.

BP has already spent billions on claims and the cleanup, including the money put into the compensation fund. Do lawmakers think because BP is responsible for these areas they have a right to interfere with other operational aspects of the company? They don't.

According to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, BP said they're spending was "to keep Gulf Coast residents informed of issues relating to the oil spill and recovery and to ensure transparency during the recovery process."

From the advertisements I've seen from BP, that's an accurate statement. So again, what in the world are the Democrats making a big deal about this for? They have absolutely no say in what BP spends on advertising, and thankfully they'll be losing big in the upcoming elections as they've attempted to take over the United States and its private sector in a few short years.

BP (NYSE:BP) Selling Malaysia Assets to Petronas

In its ongoing effort to raise $30 billion over the next 17 months to pay for liabilities, claims and cleanup related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, BP has agreed to sell assets in Malaysia to Petronas for $363 million.

Petronas, or Petroliam Nasional Bhd., is the national oil company of Malaysia.

The assets being sold are Polyethylene Malaysia Sdn Bhd, which BP holds a 60 percent stake, and Ethylene Malaysia Sdn Bhd, where BP holds a 15 percent stake.

In a statement, Sue Rataj, president of BP’s Global Petrochemicals Business, said, “BP will continue to focus on the development and expansion of our olefins and derivatives business in China, and other large rapidly growing markets, and pursue opportunities in China and India.”

The is expected to close near the end of 2010.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Completes Deepest Canadian Exploration Well

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) announced it has completed the drilling of the deepest exploration well in Canadian history off the coast of Newfoundland.

The oil company said they were able to finish the operations without any safety problems. The drilling was in 2,600 meters of water.

Drilling on the project was finished last week, according to Chevron spokesman Leif Sollid, but the results won't be released for about two years, he added.

With the project going on in the midst of the BP (NYSE:BP) oil spill, Chevron was under tight scrutiny, and had to report daily to a safety team concerning the various tests to ensure safe drilling.

BP (NYSE:BP) Points to Own Engineers for Misreading Data

An internal investigation by BP (NYSE:BP) has reportedly found their own engineers had misread data which resulted in the deaths of 11 workers and the huge amount of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, which now is largely gone.

Bloomberg cited an unnamed source in reporting the story, saying the data that was misread was part of the problem which led to the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which was the catalyst for the accident and everything that followed.

Based on the faulty data, oil workers on the rig started to replace drilling fluid with seawater in the well. The seawater was too light to keep natural gas from entering into the well, which led to the initial explosion.

Officials at BP said they're not going to comment on the report. BP spokesman Mark Salt said, "We have not seen it ourselves. I am not going to comment on speculation."

According to BP's director of safety, Mark Bly, the report will be released sometime in the weeks ahead.

Anger Growing Over Obama's Oil Moratorium

Increased anger in the Gulf states is mounting even more, as residents
are looking answer Obama isn't willing to give, and he maintains his stubborn insistence of keeping it in place, even though thousands in the area remain out of work.

Even the idea thrown out last week he may rescind the moratorium earlier than proposed is an illusion, as he's just going to have regulations put in place which will keep people out of work, as well as extend the original moratorium period of time through into 2011.

Senator Mary Landrieu, Democrat from Louisiana, said in an interview, “This BP (NYSE:BP) oil spill and the moratorium has had the effect of pushing us closer to the recession than we were before. Now people are really getting antsy and anxious and angry, not only angry at BP for the spill but very, very angry at the federal government for imposing what we think is a very poor solution.”

Obama is catering to his environmental extremist base, as inspectors cleared the wells in the area as being fit to be used. If he can't trust his own inspectors, there's another agenda in the wings, and that is the environmentalists' pressuring him to maintain the moratorium, at least until regulations are put in place so Obama can announce he's lifting the moratorium, although the same restrictions will remain in place.

He's of course going to do this right before the elections in order to make it appear he and the Democrats are doing something right.

That won't hold this time, as everyone sees clearly what's going on, and they'll pay for allowing it to become a political issue rather than a people issue.

BP (NYSE:BP) Questions Government Oil Spill Figures

The grandstanding Democrat, Rep. Edward Markey, from Massachusetts, is evidently outraged that BP (NYSE:BP) is actually questioning the very high figures put forth by the Government as to how much oil spilled into the ocean.

In an attempt to make it look like he's taking the high road, Markey said, "I continue to urge BP to accept these numbers in order to move on to the vital task of Gulf restoration, instead of endless litigation."

But why should BP simply accept the numbers? When the numbers first came out, I thought they were very high, and with billions at stake dependent upon those numbers, there's no reason in the world to simply accept them as fact and go forward.

BP attorney Douglas Curtis responded to Markey saying, "Without addressing the letter's premises, BP agrees with you that it is important to determine the amount of oil that was discharged from the MC 252 well in the Gulf of Mexico."

Government scientists claim 53,000 barrels a day escaped the well into the Gulf of Mexico, while 62,000 a day escaped leaked at the beginning of the spill. That results in the estimate of 4.9 million barrels being released into the Gulf.

Of that, about 800,000 barrels were captured by BP before the well was finally capped.

Obama May Lift Gulf Oil Moratorium Before Elections

In what would be an obvious political move, reports are coming out that Obama may lift the oil ban before its November 30 expiration, with October being the probable date.

The controversial and unpopular moratorium was imposed by the Obama administration for Gulf waters over 500 feet deep after the BP (NYSE:BP) oil spill, even though safety checks from inspectors cleared the remaining oil rigs being operationally safe.

Obama and the Democrats know this is a major issue for a number of regions of the country, and in an economic atmosphere of increasing unemployment, they would get hammered on it; although they still will for forcing on the struggling Gulf states.

While it's being asserted pressure from the states is pushing Obama to end the moratorium early, that's really not the case. What seems to be happening is whether the moratorium is in place or not, delays in drilling could last into the middle of 2011, which makes the idea of a moratorium irrelevant.

If stories are true, the moratorium will be officially lifted, but oil drilling won't be allowed for some time. In other words, it sounds like an outright lie, and there will be an unofficial moratorium in place while leading up to the elections.

While this may seem like it'll placate the governments of the Gulf states, it won't, as they'll see through this and let their people know what's really going on.

How it evidently will work, is new regulations will be put in place that do the same thing as the oil moratorium, and then Obama will lift it to make it look like he and his administration, along with the Democrats, are compromising on the issue, when if fact they're even making it worse than it was.

Proximity to BP (NYSE:BP) Oil Spill to Determine Many Claims

Although some people and businesses have been somewhat confused by the parameters surrounding the BP (NYSE:BP) compensation fund administered by Kenneth Feinberg, one this isn't confusing, and that is those who live close to the oil spill will have the best change of having their claim approved, while the further away one is from the spill, chances diminish, although it depends on the overall circumstances made in the claim.

A claim must reveal the specific damage or economic loss associated with the oil spill, which includes how close the claimant was to the spill and their "dependence upon injured natural resources."

Those who feel they were indirectly affected by the disaster will have a harder time collecting on their claims. But those who aren't rewarded can then choose to go the route of a lawsuit if they feel they have a legitimate chance to win.

The response to claims should be quick, with Feinberg stating his goal is to pay out emergency funds to those individuals who qualify within 24 hours, and to businesses within a week.

Those receiving emergency funds can still sue BP and others, while those accepting final settlements must waive the right if they want to receive it.

Claims to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility can be made through November 23.

BP (NYSE:BP) Shocker: Says Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Changed Lock on Blowout Preventer

BP (NYSE:BP) executive vice president Harry Thierens said in a hearing today that Deepwater Horizon owner Transocean (NYSE:RIG) changed a locking mechanism on the blowout preventer which caused up to 24 hourse of delay.

The blowout preventer is what is used to prevent oil from leaking from a well if something fails. It took a minimum of twelve hours, and up to a full day to figure out what changes Transocean had made to the device and to receive drawings of those changes.

Thierens testified he had been immersed in the efforts to shutdown the oil well after the April 20 explosion.

BP is now trying to secure the failed device at the well without damaging it so a determination as to why it failed can be made, along with who is liable for the failure.

Cameron International (NYSE:CAM) provided the blowout preventer for the oil rig.

BP (NYSE:BP) Spent $6 Billion for Spill Says Claims Manager

Costs for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill by BP (NYSE:BP) have risen to about $6 billion, and it is growing on a daily basis, according to chief claims manager Geir Robinson.

Testifying before the House and Senate Insurance committees, Robinson added that $400 million has been paid out to individuals and businesses affected by the accident.

Of that, individuals and businesses residing in Louisiana have received the bulk of that, accounting for payouts totaling $152 million.

Concerned over the ability of the company to pay the increasing costs related to the oil spill, Robinson said, "It (the $20 billion fund) is neither a floor nor a ceiling. There is every indication that the full resources of BP" will be available to pay claims and other expenses related to the incident. "There is no indication we are about to go bankrupt."

It does reveal the caution the government must take in attempting to punish BP, as there is only so far they can go before BP could no longer respond.

This is why it is ridiculous for a number of people to attack the BP compensation fund and the parameters Kenneth Feinberg has built around it.

To allow claims to be paid and then the claimants to go ahead and sure BP afterwards, would be a joke, and would crush the company, with no one receiving anything.

Those who want to sue BP have the right to, they just have to bypass the claims process represented by the fund to do so. Get guaranteed money now or take a chance on getting more later; possibly years later.

Add to that the approximate 30 percent lawyers would get, and it makes little sense for claimants to go that way, unless they were a big business that could handle the shortfall while pursuing a case.

Other oil companies connected to the accident may be allowed to be sued if people receive full claims, something Feinberg is in the middle of making a decision on.

New Microbe Discovered Eating BP (NYSE:BP) Oil

A new study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, led by Terry Hazen, has discovered a new oil-eating microbe in the Gulf of Mexico munching on oil from the BP (NYSE:BP) spill.

When looking into the dispersion of the oil in the Gulf, scientists studying the area made the discovery of the microbe, which have expanded exponentially in the warm waters, and the increased food source of oil.

One interesting aspect of the discovery is they found the microbe can eat the oil without shrinking the amount of oxygen in the water; something scientists had been concerned over.

You can find the study at the online journal, Scienceexpress.

BP donated about $500 million to Berkeley, a somewhat controversial act in the minds of some at the University.

BP (NYSE:BP) Spill Didn't Stop Florida Tourism from Growing

Data from "Visit Florida," the official tourism marketing agency of the state, over 20.8 million visitors came to Florida in the second quarter, surpassing last year's numbers, even with the BP (NYSE:BP) oil spill.

Last year in the same period 20.1 million tourists came to visit the state, 3.5 percent less than this year in the same period.

So even with all the hysteria surrounding alleged losses, it is discovered that fear drove the media reporting, and not the facts, which reveal people understood the BP spill wasn't having an effect on Florida beaches.

Even so, BP provided grants of over $82 million for the state to spend on advertising letting people know beaches were clean and able to be used.

In the first half of 2010, major Florida counties such as Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach all experienced growth in hotel occupancy, while in the case of Miami-Dade, they were even able to increase the room rates as well.

BP (NYSE:BP) Brings Out Heavy Machinery for Oil Cleanup

Heavy machinery is being brought out by BP (NYSE:BP) to dig up the oil that's absorbed into the sand of the beaches of Alabama.

The oil is a deep as six inches deep, possibly more in some cases, and BP received permits to use trackhoes to dig it up and remove the oil.

Another ability of the hoes is to reach into the water and get rid of any tar ball that are underneath the sand close to the beach.

Workers in the region are also be set to remove the booms as there's little or no chance of the disappearing oil being swept onto the beaches and shores any longer.

Booms were used to block the oil from coming moving onto areas with grass and the islands.