BP to push back on any asset sale notice
BP plans to push back against a request from the US government for advance notice of any asset sales or other large transactions in the wake of the oil spill.
A person with knowledge of BP’s thinking as saying the British oil company would examine how to address the department’s concerns “without having to give advance notice of market-sensitive information and transactions.”
The US Justice Department had requested that all the companies involved in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, including BP, advise the department about its plans for transactions such as asset sales, divestments or other major financial dealings.
The person familiar with BP’s thinking described the request as “peculiar” and “probably not legally enforceable.” A BP spokesman declined to comment on the report. He would only confirm that the company had received the request and that it had not yet responded. “We will reply in due course,” said BP spokesman Daren Beaudo. The Department of Justice declined to comment.
BP aims to fix its leaking Gulf oil well by 27 July, ahead of its earlier target of mid-August, to show investors it has limited its burgeoning oil spill liabilities. The July 27 target date is the day the company is due to report second-quarter earnings and will speak to investors.
“In a perfect world with no interruptions, it is possible to be ready to stop the well between 20 – 27 July,” said the head of BP’s Gulf Coast restoration unit Bob Dudley.
In another development BP chief executive Tony Hayward met with an Abu Dhabi state investment fund on Wednesday, part of a quest for cash to ward off takeovers and help pay for the worst oil spill in US history. Agencies
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