Daily Archives: April 14, 2011

Winners and losers from BP AGM

April 14, 2011 6:22 pm by Kiran Stacey

The first BP AGM since the oil spill, and the first one with Bob Dudley at the helm, has come to a close. With the various disputes and controversies surrounding the company at the moment, did Mr Dudley come out of it with his reputation enhanced? And what about the other parties represented? Here is our take:

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Tags: Bob Dudley, BP, BP oil spill, BP-Rosneft, Carl-Henric Svanberg, Oil sands
Posted in Corporate news, Oil | Permalink

Green jobs boost for the UK

April 14, 2011 6:14 pm by Kiran Stacey

More than three quarters of small and medium sized cleantech businesses in the UK plan to recruit in the next 12 months, according to a report*.

The findings, from a survey of 312 companies by the CleanTech Group on behalf of the Carbon Trust, will give a boost to government hopes for a recovery founded on green jobs.

Benj Sykes, director of innovations at the Carbon Trust, told Energy Source:

This is evidence that green growth is going to be an engine for growth. There is a recognition that this is an agenda that is not going to fail because of financial constraints.

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Tags: Carbon Trust, Clean energy
Posted in Renewables | Permalink

Dudley survives stormy BP AGM

April 14, 2011 2:48 pm by Kiran Stacey

As we near the end of BP’s AGM, one thing we can report is that Bob Dudley is still standing. Which is more than can be said of several protesters against the development of Canadian oil sands who were carted out, in some cases lifted off their feet, after shouting across Mr Dudley as he tried to defend such developments.

It has not been an easy ride for Mr Dudley in his first AGM as CEO, nor for the chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg. Several representatives of Gulf of Mexico communities were banned and if the company thought barring such people would limit criticism on this front they were wrong. One of the toughest moments for the board came when one woman read out a testimony excoriating the company from the father of Gordon Jones, one of the rig workers who was killed almost a year ago today.

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Tags: BP, Gulf of Mexico, Rosneft, TNK-BP
Posted in Corporate news, Oil | Permalink

From beyondbrics April 14, 2011

BP-Rosneft: breathing space

By Stefan Wagstyl and Catherine Belton

Rosneft’s decision on Wednesday to give BP another month to try to complete their controversial cooperation plan gives everybody involved a breathing space.

But such is the acrimony between BP, its existing Russian partners led by oligarch Mikhail Fridman, and warring Kremlin clans, that it’s unclear a deal can be done. Perhaps it can be completed only when the Moscow political temperature subsides after next year’s presidential election.

Continue reading: “BP-Rosneft: breathing space”

Tags: BP, Rosneft, TNK-BP
Posted in Oil | Permalink

Dudley faces testing BP AGM

April 14, 2011 10:59 am by Kiran Stacey

Thursday morning sees Bob Dudley’s first AGM as BP chief executive, and it is not the one he would have planned.

After taking charge last year in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico spill, the new BP CEO initially won plaudits for his plan to overhaul the company’s safety procedures.

Then came his big eye-catching move, the deal that could seal his reputation as CEO. His plan for a $16bn share swap with Rosneft would open up the Russian arctic for exploration and provide an source of revenues that could rival the North Sea.

Continue reading: “Dudley faces testing BP AGM”