LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – BP Plc promised improved drilling practices on Friday as the company balances twin aims of rebuilding investor and public confidence after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill while not admitting flaws in its own procedures.

BP said it would more closely oversee the work of its contractors, echoing its position that the rig blast, which killed 11 men and led to the spill, was the fault of its contractors, including driller Transocean and Halliburton.

The companies have filed lawsuits worth tens of billions of dollars blaming each other for the blast, and any admission by BP that its existing drilling procedures needed improvements could weaken its legal position.

BP said it would also establish centers for monitoring its drilling wells in real time — something some rivals already do and which might have prevented the well blow-out that caused the disaster.

The London-based company declined to comment on whether it was addressing shortcomings in its internal procedures that were highlighted in government investigations, such as its reliance on a single barrier to keep oil and gas in the well.

BP’s rivals including Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and BG Group have criticized its design for the Macondo well, saying it contributed to the disaster.

GOING BEYOND WHAT’S REQUIRED

LONDON (Reuters) – BHP Billiton’s $12.1 billion agreed takeover of U.S. shale gas producer Petrohawk Energy Corp shows environmental concerns and weak margins have not cooled interest in this controversial energy source.

Since the countries with the biggest oil and mineral resources restrict foreign companies’ ability to access those reserves, companies have been forced to reinvest their cash from bumper commodity prices in possibly the most widely criticized and least lucrative part of the industry.

BHP’s move into U.S. shale gas is therefore only the latest example of a trend that appears resistant to growing political headwinds.

Companies splashed out $39 billion buying U.S. shale gas companies and assets last year, equivalent to 21 percent of all global oil and gas mergers and acquisitions activity, according to data from industry consultants Wood Mackenzie.

The players at the top of the oil industry, such as Exxon Mobil and BP Plc, were slow to realize the potential of U.S. shale gas, forcing them to buy companies to gain a foothold.

Now mid-tier international groups such as BHP and Norway’s Statoil are joining the game, even though the logic of these transactions is threatened by environmentalists’ calls for restrictions on shale gas drilling.

Shale and other forms of “tight” or hard to extract gas are extracted by a process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. This involves shooting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals such as hydrochloric acid and kerosene into a well to break up or fracture the rock and release the natural gas contained within.

LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) – British gas producer BG Group said it had doubled its best estimate of its oil and gas reserves in Brazil’s Santos basin to six billion barrels, lifting shares in the company and its partners.

The upgrade of the fields, co-owned with state-controlled Petrobras , Spain’s Repsol and Portugal’s Galp Energia , follows new tests and highlights the value of the finds, which represent one of the industry’s largest new oil provinces in recent decades.

BG shares traded up 5 percent at 0740 GMT, against a 0.8 percent rise in the STOXX Europe 600 Oil and Gas index . Shares in Repsol were up 2.2 percent while shares in Galp advanced 6.9 percent.

Analysts at Evolution Securities said the news could add 2.80 pounds to its valuation of BG’s shares.

“Today’s announcement should also add further confidence to the production growth target of 6-8% pa to 2020,” the brokerage added in a research note.

BG said its share of recoverable resources from the fields could represent between four and eight billion barrels. It considers six billion the best estimate, up from an earlier estimate of three billion.

Chief Executive Frank Chapman said production capacity would rise steadily to more than 2.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2017.

LONDON (Reuters) – Gas producer BG Group (BG.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said it had doubled its best estimate of its oil and gas reserves in Brazil’s Santos basin to six billion barrels, lifting the company’s shares by more than 6 percent.

The upgrade of the fields, co-owned with state-controlled Petrobras (PETR4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research) and Spain’s Repsol (REP.MC: Quote, Profile, Research), follows new tests and highlights the value of the finds, which represent one of the industry’s largest new oil provinces in recent decades.

BG said its share of recoverable resources from the fields could represent between four and eight billion barrels. It considers six billion the best estimate, up from an earlier estimate of three billion.

Chief Executive Frank Chapman said production capacity would rise steadily to more than 2.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2017.

“I believe this … will transform the scope, scale and value of BG Group,” he said in a statement.

A spokesman said the economics of developing the reserves were also improving, partly because the per barrel costs fell with higher reserves estimates.

BG shares traded up 6.2 percent at 8:20 a.m., against a 1.2 percent rise in the STOXX Europe 600 Oil and Gas index .

LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) – UK explorer Premier Oil Plc has agreed to pay around $110 million to increase its stake in the Wytch Farm fields in Dorset, southern England, boosting reserves at what it said was an inexpensive price.

Premier said on Monday it had exercised pre-emption rights to give it an additional 17.715 percent interest in the assets, after oil major BP Plc agreed to sell its controlling stake to unlisted French explorer Perenco.

The fields produce 13,000 barrels per day and Premier’s new stake brings 12.5 million barrels of proved plus probable reserves, at $8.80 a barrel.

“It’s good value,” Chief Executive Simon Lockett said.

The company will pay $96 million plus further payments of up to approximately $14.4 million, dependant upon government approval of the field development plan.

Citigroup said it had valued the stake at $135 million.

Nonetheless, Premier shares fell 2.0 percent against a 1.3 percent drop in the STOXX Europe 600 Oil and Gas index .

LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) – Greenpeace ignored a court injunction on Friday and boarded a Cairn Energy drilling rig offshore Greenland, raising the stakes in a battle over the development of the area as a major new oil-producing province.

Greenpeace said campaigners including the global head of the environmental group, Kumi Naidoo, boarded the rig, which is drilling just outside the Arctic circule, following similar occupations in recent weeks and last year.

Morten Nielsen, Greenland deputy police chief, said two activists were arrested and may now be expelled from the country.

Cairn said operations were not affected.

Little exploration has been conducted in Greenland due partly to the harsh environment, but high oil prices are pressing companies to drill in new areas. Explorers believe Greenland could have billions of barrels of oil under its seas.

But the BP oil spill last year has heightened concerns about the ability of the oil industry to deal with leaks in deep water, and accidents in icy waters are seen as especially challenging to tackle.

Greenpeace has called on Cairn and the Greenland government to publish the company’s oil spill response plan, but Greenland has refused to do so. Spill response plans are publicly available in the United States and UK.

LONDON (Reuters) – Former BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) boss Tony Hayward and financier Nat Rothschild said they had raised 1.35 billion pounds from investors to create a bid vehicle to target emerging market oil assets.

Vallares, as the company will be known, aims to make a reverse takeover of an unlisted oil group in an emerging market, which needs money to develop its assets.

Vallares effectively offers a target, whose owners may end up with a majority stake of the listed company, a fast track route to a UK stockmarket listing and, thereby, the ability to raise money more cheaply than they currently can.

The vehicle has two years to strike a deal, or to return the cash to investors, and will begin unconditional trading on the London Stock Exchange on June 22, the company said on Friday.

The listing of emerging markets companies on Western markets has come under scrutiny in recent weeks, with accusations that corporate governance practices are below those usually expected by investors.

Shares in Toronto-listed Chinese forestry group Sino-Forest (TRE.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) have collapsed in the past two weeks after allegations of fraud.

Four non-executives at London Stock Exchange-listed Kazakh mining group ENRC (ENRC.L: Quote, Profile, Research) departed last week, with two criticising the company’s corporate governance.

LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) – Former BP boss Tony Hayward and financier Nat Rothschild said they had raised 1.35 billion pounds ($2.18 billion) from investors to create a bid vehicle to target emerging market oil assets.

Vallares, as the company will be known, aims to make a reverse takeover of an unlisted oil group in an emerging market, which needs money to develop its assets.

Vallares effectively offers a target, whose owners may end up with a majority stake of the listed company, a fast track route to a UK stockmarket listing and, thereby, the ability to raise money more cheaply than they currently can.

The vehicle has two years to strike a deal, or to return the cash to investors, and will begin unconditional trading on the London Stock Exchange on June 22, the company said on Friday.

The listing of emerging markets companies on Western markets has come under scrutiny in recent weeks, with accusations that corporate governance practices are below those usually expected by investors.

Shares in Toronto-listed Chinese forestry group Sino-Forest have collapsed in the past two weeks after allegations of fraud. (ID:nN15105730]

Four non-executives at London Stock Exchange-listed Kazakh mining group ENRC departed last week, with two criticising the company’s corporate governance.

LONDON (Reuters) – Vallares, the oil and gas bid vehicle founded by former BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) boss Tony Hayward and financier Nathaniel Rothschild said it had closed its fundraising earlier than expected, raising 1.35 billion pounds.

Vallares’s business model is to make a reverse takeover of unlisted oil group in an emerging market, which needs money to develop its assets.

Vallares effectively offers a target, whose owners will likely end up with majority control of the listed company, a fast track route to a stockmarket listing and, thereby, the ability to raise the money needed to develop their assets.

However, the listing of emerging markets companies on Western markets has come under scrutiny in recent weeks, with accusations that corporate governance practices are below those usually expected by investors.

Shares in Toronto-listed Chinese forestry group Sino-Forest (TRE.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) have collapsed in the past two weeks after allegations of fraud.

Four non-executives at London Stock Exchange-listed Kazakh mining group ENRC (ENRC.L: Quote, Profile, Research) departed Last week, with two criticising the company’s corporate governance.

China’s Longtop Financial Technologies (LFT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), China MediaExpress Holdings Inc (CCME.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and others were hit recently by accusations of accounting fraud, including from short-sellers or regulatory probes.

LONDON (Reuters) – Western oil firms are unlikely to face widespread asset seizures or contract revisions as a result of Arab uprisings, thanks to deft diplomacy, legal protections and efforts to depict themselves as partners of the local citizenry.

In the past, big political shifts in the Middle East have often been followed by the eviction of foreign oil producers — Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran to cite a few examples.

This time around, upheaval has hit Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia and Syria — not the biggest oil producers in the Arab world but among the most open to foreign investment. Companies including BP Plc (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research), Exxon Mobil (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) have spent billions there.

“I wouldn’t describe us as worried. We’re being vigilant,” said Bob Dudley, chief executive of BP, echoing comments from other companies.

The new governments that have emerged, or may emerge, are expected by and large to remain supportive of foreign investment, because they will wish to maintain output and government revenues.

“I don’t see there being a large nationalistic wave,” said Richard Quin, Middle East analyst at Wood Mackenzie.

In the past popular anger toward a regime has spilled over to the companies that supported it, but oil companies say that over the past two decades, they have positioned themselves on the side of communities, rather than as agents of government.