BP has agreed in principle to set up a US$20 billion (Dh73.45bn) fund to pay for damage caused by its devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The White House and top executives of the British energy group have tentatively agreed that BP will pay the money into an independently controlled fund over a period of years, according to sources close to the oil company.
The fund will be overseen by Kenneth Feinberg, the lawyer who ran the compensation fund for victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US. It will compensate people and businesses harmed by the spill.
Barack Obama, the US president, demanded the creation of the fund during his national address about the spill on Tuesday. He met BP executives at the White House yesterday.
The preliminary agreement followed days of legal negotiations over the creation of an escrow account.
"We share the president's goal of shutting off the well as quickly as possible, cleaning up the oil and mitigating the impact on the people and environment of the Gulf Coast," BP said in a statement released after the president's speech.
BP's shares rose sharply following news of the deal, which assuaged concerns about the company's future. Earlier this week, its share price had dropped to a 13-year low.
During his speech, Mr Obama promised a restoration plan to help states suffering from the oil spill to recover. He appointed Ray Mabus, the secretary of the US Navy and former governor of Mississippi, to develop the plan.
On Tuesday, the government said that as much as 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil could be leaking into the Gulf of Mexico, more than twice its estimate last week.
BP has outlined plans to deploy new equipment to capture at least 40,000 bpd of oil from its damaged deepwater Macondo well by the end of this month and 60,000 bpd by mid-July.
Company officials could not immediately be reached yesterday for comment.
Meanwhile, the world's top pension funds are reeling from losses on BP holdings, but one group of investors has emerged relatively unscathed.
The Gulf's sovereign wealth funds, with their economies largely reliant on oil revenues, hold few shares in the oil giant. Only the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) figures among its top 10 investors.
KIA is among four international government investors in BP to have lost $5bn through the troubled oil company's share price collapse.
But other Gulf sovereign investors have escaped exposure to the steep fall in BP's London-traded stock.
KIA was the fifth-largest shareholder in BP, holding 328 million shares at the start of last month, according to Bloomberg data.
Sovereign wealth funds from Norway, China and Singapore were also among the 12 largest shareholders in the company.
"The spill has shown that BP was a higher risk than investors thought," said Peter Hitchens, an oil analyst at Panmure Gordon.
"These big sovereign wealth funds take a long-term view and will still want exposure to oil companies due to high-yield curves."
Shares in BP have shed value sharply since an explosion sank an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, killing 11 workers.
The company has had a torrid time since, as it battles to contain leaking oil while facing growing ire from the US public and politicians over its handling of the clean-up.
Before the spill, BP had attracted a growing number of investors after producing more oil and gas than its rival ExxonMobil last year for the first time.
The future prospects for the company looked bright after September, when it made the biggest oil discovery in the US in three years in the Gulf of Mexico.
Mr Hitchens said BP was still financially strong and any decision to suspend second-quarter dividend payments would be due to political pressure from the US government, rather than financial insecurity.
Norway's state fund held 336 million shares, or 1.79 per cent of the company, and the People's Bank of China owned a 1.1 per cent stake, according to the Bloomberg data. The Singapore government held a 1.07 per cent stake.
BlackRock was BP's largest shareholder among private fund managers, holding 1.1 billion shares, and Legal & General the second largest with 751 million shares, the latest filing, on December 31, showed.
@Email:tcarlisle@thenational.ae
@Email:tarnold@thenational.ae
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
Company%20profile
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Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammed%20Alnamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMicrofinance%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E16%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFamily%20offices%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Glossary of a stock market revolution
Reddit
A discussion website
Redditor
The users of Reddit
Robinhood
A smartphone app for buying and selling shares
Short seller
Selling a stock today in the belief its price will fall in the future
Short squeeze
Traders forced to buy a stock they are shorting
Naked short
An illegal practice
'The Ice Road'
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne
2/5
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')
Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')
Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
Greatest Royal Rumble results
John Cena pinned Triple H in a singles match
Cedric Alexander retained the WWE Cruiserweight title against Kalisto
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt win the Raw Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Sheamus
Jeff Hardy retained the United States title against Jinder Mahal
Bludgeon Brothers retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos
Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe
AJ Styles remains WWE World Heavyweight champion after he and Shinsuke Nakamura are both counted out
The Undertaker beats Rusev in a casket match
Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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25%20Days%20to%20Aden
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
Indian origin executives leading top technology firms
Sundar Pichai
Chief executive, Google and Alphabet
Satya Nadella
Chief executive, Microsoft
Ajaypal Singh Banga
President and chief executive, Mastercard
Shantanu Narayen
Chief executive, chairman, and president, Adobe
Indra Nooyi
Board of directors, Amazon and former chief executive, PepsiCo
SOUTH%20KOREA%20SQUAD
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Bridgerton%20season%20three%20-%20part%20one
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVarious%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nicola%20Coughlan%2C%20Luke%20Newton%2C%20Jonathan%20Bailey%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Liverpool 4-1 Shrewsbury
Liverpool
Gordon (34'), Fabinho (44' pen, 90' 3), Firmino (78')
Shrewsbury
Udoh (27'minutes)
Man of the Match: Kaide Gordon (Liverpool)
In Full Flight: A Story of Africa and Atonement
John Heminway, Knopff
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
Arabian Gulf Cup FINAL
Al Nasr 2
(Negredo 1, Tozo 50)
Shabab Al Ahli 1
(Jaber 13)
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
Saturday (UAE kick-off times)
Watford v Leicester City (3.30pm)
Brighton v Arsenal (6pm)
West Ham v Wolves (8.30pm)
Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (10.45pm)
Sunday
Newcastle United v Sheffield United (5pm)
Aston Villa v Chelsea (7.15pm)
Everton v Liverpool (10pm)
Monday
Manchester City v Burnley (11pm)
Everybody%20Loves%20Touda
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