BP plc News

Markets closed down on Wall Street today:A Dow A -2.22%,A S&P A -2.46%,A Nasdaq A -2.82%,A OilA -3.78%,A Gold A +4.05%. On the commodities front,A Oil A declined to $83.26 a barrel.

Exxon's plans to build a multi-billion dollar chemical plant in Texas may help it compete against its rival Dow Chemical .

Hamstrung by limited possibilities for growth, weary of continual bad blood with its Russian partners, and possibly anticipating fresh problems with newly returned, nationalistic Russian President Vladimir Putin, BP Plc finally announced plans to exit its huge joint venture TNK-BP. AAR, a consortium of billionaires that is BP's partner in TNK-BP, ... (more)

Federal investigators are looking into whether BP PLC representatives gave Congress false information about how much oil was leaking into the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill two years ago.

Prosecutors had hoped to ban Mix from traveling to some states before his criminal trial relating the to 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

BP Plc is under investigation regarding whether company representatives lied to Congress about the amount of oil leaking from the Macondo well after the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Azerbaijan to assist in hydrocarbon exploration in Saudi Arabia The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan and Foroof International in Baku signed a memorandum of understanding and long term projects in the petroleum sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

UK oil major BP said it was no longer considering shipping gas from its Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan through the Nabucco pipeline, dealing a blow to the troubled European project.

Benchmark oil for July delivery was up 77 cents to $91.63 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

None of the countries participating in the Nabucco gas pipeline project had even hinted at doubts over its successful implementation, Bulgaria's representative in Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH Dimitar Abadzhiev said, Sofia News Agency reported.

BP downgrades the scope of its Nabucco pipeline project, which is to import natural gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, and now says that the pipeline will only reach so far as Europe's border with Turkey.

A proposed pipeline that would cut Europe's dependence on Russian gas by opening a route for Central Asian and Middle Eastern supplies has been shelved because it is not economically viable, anchor supplier BP said.

Oil major BP said it was no longer considering shipping gas from its Shah Deniz Stage 2 Gas field in Azerbaijan through the Nabucco pipeline, forcing the EU-backed project to offer a smaller alternative.

BP Plc on Wednesday said it will spend $400 million to install pollution controls at its giant Whiting, Indiana refinery to allow it to process heavy crude oil from Canada, in a deal with U.S. and state regulators.

The firm currently has a $18.00 target price on the stock. The analysts noted that the move was a valuation call.

The analysts wrote, "We don't think BP has the best long-term growth outlook in the sector, but E&P prospects look set to turn up sharply as operations normalise in 2013-14. Meanwhile, we think the shares' recent slump to almost their post-Macondo low vs the US oils leaves the potential for a good recovery on a 6-12 month view, especially if we see ... (more)

In a report published earlier today, Canaccord Genuity upgraded its rating for BP plc from Hold to Buy, but did not name a price target.

The SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF has dropped more than 10 percent over the last month as concerns of Europe's economic uncertainty continue to grow.

Benchmark oil for June delivery was up 43 cents to $91.90 US a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Best Buy Co. 's board has released findings of an independent investigation into personal conduct claims regarding former CEO Brian Dunn .