LONDON (Reuters) – Anadarko Petroleum Corp will pay BP Plc $4 billion toward clean-up and victim compensation for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The amount is less than BP might have won in court, but it softens the blow of overall spill-related costs to the British group.

As part of the settlement announced on Monday, Anadarko also said it will no longer pursue allegations of gross negligence against BP. It is unclear what impact this development will have on the remainder of the morass of litigation pending in federal court in New Orleans, legal experts said.

Investors greeted the deal as good news for both companies. BP shares rose 2.2 percent in London and Anadarko shares closed 5.5 percent higher at $74.44 on the New York Stock Exchange.

“We maintain our view that the ultimate cost to BP could fall … substantially below the cost inferred by the share price fall since the accident,” said Richard Griffith, an oil analyst at Evolution Securities.

Anadarko, based in Woodlands, Texas, was a 25 percent partner in the doomed Macondo well. It sued BP in April, claiming that gross negligence by BP caused the blowout and saying that BP is responsible for economic losses from the incident. BP, in turn, invoiced Anadarko $6.1 billion for spill-related costs it calculated Anadarko owed.

The settlement announced on Monday is “favorable for both companies,” BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley said.

Without a deal, Anadarko could have been on the hook for 25 percent of the cost of cleanup, compensating those affected, and any government fines. BP has said the total bill for the oil spill, including fines, will be $42 billion. This suggests Anadarko could have faced a total bill well above the $4 billion it agreed to pay.

LONDON (Reuters)- – Oil giant BP and Anadarko, its partner in the well which caused the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, have agreed a settlement on cleanup costs whereby Andarko will pay BP $4 billion — less than half the amount it may have been forced to pay in court.

BP said Monday that as part of the deal, Anadarko will no longer pursue its allegations of gross negligence against BP and that the deal excludes possible government fines the parties may have to pay.

The London-based oil major’s shares jumped on the news, to trade up 4.8 percent at 0724 GMT, outperforming a 2.1 percent rise in the STOXX Europe 600 Oil and Gas index.

“This is good progress,” said one dealer.

As a 25 percent partner in the Macondo well, Anadarko was obliged to pay 25 percent of the costs of cleaning up the spill, compensating those affected and paying government fines.

It could only avoid this responsibility if it proved BP had been grossly negligent — something which could, potentially, have added around $18 billion to the total amount of fines BP faced.

BP has said the total bill for the oil spill, including government fines, for which it has taken charges of $3.5 billion, will be $42 billion.

LONDON (Reuters) – Forbes magazine has urged British authorities to take action against Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky in relation to comments made in court that appear to be at odds with a statement he gave in a libel action against Forbes a decade ago.

“We’re disappointed but not surprised by Mr Berezovsky’s admission,” Kai Falkenberg, Editorial Counsel for Forbes, told Reuters in an emailed statement.

“In America, such conduct would be a serious matter. We hope that the English authorities will treat it similarly.”

The publisher declined to say if it would pursue the matter in the courts.

A spokeswoman for Berezovsky declined comment. His lawyer did not reply to a request for comment.

Berezovsky, who has been granted political asylum in Britain, is currently locked in a High Court battle in London with Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

He is seeking more than $5 billion in damages from Abramovich, who he says intimidated him into selling his share of the Russian oil company Sibneft on the cheap.

LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) – Forbes magazine has urged British authorities to take action against Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky in relation to comments made in court that appear to be at odds with a statement he gave in a libel action against Forbes a decade ago.

“We’re disappointed but not surprised by Mr Berezovsky’s admission,” Kai Falkenberg, Editorial Counsel for Forbes, told Reuters in an emailed statement.

“In America, such conduct would be a serious matter. We hope that the English authorities will treat it similarly.”

The publisher declined to say if it would pursue the matter in the courts.

A spokeswoman for Berezovsky declined comment. His lawyer did not reply to a request for comment.

Berezovsky, who has been granted political asylum in Britain, is currently locked in a High Court battle in London with Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

He is seeking more than $5 billion in damages from Abramovich, who he says intimidated him into selling his share of the Russian oil company Sibneft on the cheap.

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain has given BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) the go-ahead for a 4.5 billion pound North Sea oil and gas project that confirms interest in the region despite tax rises and could slow the decline in output there.

BP and its partners on the project, Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research), ConocoPhillips (COP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Chevron (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research), will now enter the second phase of the Clair Ridge project, the development of a field west of the remote Scottish Shetland Islands.

A 12 percentage point tax hike earlier this year led to howls of protest from the oil industry and predictions of a big drop in investment and an acceleration in the recent decline in North Sea output.

Giving an upbeat assessment of its future production from the North Sea, BP said on Thursday that the investment it was making in this and three other projects would be the highest annual investment it had ever made in the UK North Sea.

“After some years of decline, we now see the potential to maintain our production from the North Sea at around 200,000-250,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day until 2030,” said BP chief executive Bob Dudley in a statement.

BP produced over twice this level at its high point, and before Thursday had not previously issued a North Sea production goal, a spokesman said.

North Sea production peaked in 1999 at around 6 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, and big oil companies have in recent years preferred to open up newer oil provinces with more potential.

LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) – Britain has given BP the go-ahead for a 4.5 billion pound ($7 billion) North Sea oil and gas project that confirms interest in the region despite tax rises and could slow the decline in output there.

BP and its partners on the project, Shell , ConocoPhillips and Chevron , will now enter the second phase of the Clair Ridge project, the development of a field west of the remote Scottish Shetland Islands.

A 12 percentage point tax hike earlier this year led to howls of protest from the oil industry and predictions of a big drop in investment and an acceleration in the recent decline in North Sea output.

Giving an upbeat assessment of its future production from the North Sea, BP said on Thursday that the investment it was making in this and three other projects would be the highest annual investment it had ever made in the UK North Sea.

“After some years of decline, we now see the potential to maintain our production from the North Sea at around 200,000-250,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day until 2030,” said BP chief executive Bob Dudley in a statement.

BP produced over twice this level at its high point, and before Thursday had not previously issued a North Sea production goal, a spokesman said.

North Sea production peaked in 1999 at around 6 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, and big oil companies have in recent years preferred to open up newer oil provinces with more potential.

LONDON, Oct 11 (Reuters) – International energy groups say recent signs of political change in autocratic Myanmar are unlikely to lead to a rapid expansion of their activities in the country, which holds valuable reserves of oil and gas.

Christophe de Margerie, Chief Executive of France’s Total SA , said his company, which has a project in the former British colony, would like to play a bigger role in the country, formerly known as Burma, but had to see concrete signs of increased democratisation before this was possible.

Western trade sanctions have been in place since the military crushed a 1988 student uprising isolating Myanmar’s army dictatorships but in March, the army nominally handed over power to civilians after elections in November. The process was ridiculed at the time as a sham to cement authoritarian rule behind a democratic facade.

It was followed by other overtures such as calls for peace with ethnic minority guerrilla groups, some tolerance of criticism and more communication with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released last year from 15 years of house arrest.

On Tuesday, state television said 6,359 prisoners would be freed on Wednesday and political detainees are expected to included.

“We decided that… it was important to be in Myanmar but that we will not invest until things are getting better… I do hope that will happen,” Total’s de Margerie told reporters on the sidelines of the Oil and Money conference in London.

Total leads the $1 billion Yadana gas project in the Andaman Sea, and the CEO said he would like to back additional exploration and production investments.

LONDON (Reuters) – Mehmet Karamehmet, the controlling shareholder of Genel Energy, the subject of a $2 billion bid from ex-BP boss Tony Hayward’s Vallares Plc, has been accused of unethical business practices, according to Wikileaks.

A U.S. diplomatic cable posted on the site said the U.S. embassy in Ankara had advised U.S. firms not to do business with the Turkish tycoon.

“Karamehmet is known to Post (the U.S. embassy) as an unreliable and unsavoury business partner. Post knows of one U.S. firm that was subject to unethical and intimidating tactics, including death threats, to force a settlement of a business dispute favourable to Karamehmet,” a cable dated Jan. 15, 2005 said.

The underlying details of the alleged threats were not contained in the leaked cable and a spokeswoman for Cukorova, the unlisted conglomerate of which Karamehmet is chairman, said she had no immediate response to allegations made in the cable.

The U.S. State department did not respond to a request for comment. Vallares declined to comment.

Last month, Vallares agreed to buy Kurdistan-focused Genel Energy for around $2 billion, in an all-share deal that will make Karamehmet the enlarged group’s biggest shareholder.

Hayward, who was ousted from BP Plc in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, is CEO of Vallares, whose main financial backer ahead of its June flotation was Nathaniel Rothschild.

LONDON (Reuters) – Mehmet Karamehmet, the controlling shareholder of Genel Energy, the subject of a $2 billion (1 billion pounds) bid from ex-BP boss Tony Hayward’s Vallares Plc, has been accused of unethical business practices, according to WikiLeaks.

A U.S. diplomatic cable posted on the site said the U.S. embassy in Ankara had advised U.S. firms not to do business with the Turkish tycoon.

“Karamehmet is known to Post (the U.S. embassy) as an unreliable and unsavory business partner. Post knows of one U.S. firm that was subject to unethical and intimidating tactics, including death threats, to force a settlement of a business dispute favourable to Karamehmet,” a cable dated January 15, 2005 said.

The underlying details of the alleged threats were not contained in the leaked cable and a spokeswoman for Cukorova, the unlisted conglomerate of which Karamehmet is chairman, said she had no immediate response to allegations made in the cable.

The U.S. State department did not respond to a request for comment. Vallares declined to comment.

Last month, Vallares agreed to buy Kurdistan-focussed Genel Energy for around $2 billion, in an all-share deal that will make Karamehmet the enlarged group’s biggest shareholder.

Hayward, who was ousted from BP Plc in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, is CEO of Vallares, whose main financial backer ahead of its June flotation was Nathaniel Rothschild.

LONDON (Reuters) – Shares in oil company BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) fell 1 percent on Thursday, underperforming rivals, with two dealers blaming talk that the company had begun telling analysts its quarterly profits would be below their current forecasts.

BP denied giving analysts any such guidance.

“Sounds like net (profit) will be $5 billion at best,” said one dealer, who added that his investment house currently had a $5.3 billion forecast for BP’s third-quarter net replacement cost (RC) profits.

JP Morgan Cazenove, one of the first banks to publish earnings estimates since the end of the third quarter, issued a forecast of $4.8 billion, 10 percent below the average forecast from a Reuters poll of three analysts.

JP M Morgan said its earnings per share forecast was 12 percent below the consensus forecast from other analysts.

Analysts frequently contact companies’ investor relations’ divisions after the end of a quarter to discuss the company’s performance in the quarter, but companies are not allowed to give them any market-sensitive information that has not been made public.

BP has been the subject of rumors on several occasions in recent years that it was giving analysts guidance on upcoming earnings announcements, but a spokesman said the oil giant stuck firmly to the rules.