BP plc Close To $9 Billion Finance Package, Test Of "The Whale" Goes Nowhere

Energy

Published: July 5, 2010 2:39 pm

Last Updated: July 5, 2010 9:50 pm

BP plc (NYSE: BP) got two piece of news today, one much better than the other. The Wall Street Journal reports that the oil company has probably brought in $9 billion in financing, about $1 billion from each of nine banks which include Barclays PLC, BNP Paribas SA, Citigroup Inc., Banco Santander SA, HSBC Holdings PLC, Royal Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and Société Générale SA, the paper said.

The loans have a one-year maturity and one year option for extension.The other information is that a two-day test of “The Whale”, a 350 yard long tanker turned into a skimmer, meant to see if it can collect massive amounts of oil have not been successful so far, according to Reuters. TMT Shipping Offshore, which owns the boat, said the seas were too rough to allow the skimming device on the ship to do its work.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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