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BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward.
BP PLC's Chief Executive Tony Hayward met this week with Abu Dhabi's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and would be open to seeing the oil-rich sheikdom buy a stake of up to 10% in the U.K. oil giant, a person with knowledge of the meeting told Zawya Dow Jones.
Mr. Hayward flew into Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for meetings with officials including the crown prince and also spoke to the company's employees in the emirate in a town-hall gathering, according to a person familiar with his itinerary. "He'd be happy for Abu Dhabi to take a 10% equity stake," said the person, who asked not to be identified.
Abu Dhabi would be an influential friend for embattled BP as the company prepares to fend off any possible hostile takeover from a larger international rival after its market value was pummeled by the rising cost of the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. The sheikdom controls 90% of the oil in the United Arab Emirates and is a key U.S. ally in the Middle East.
"This will certainly improve the liquidity position and also give a little more stability to BP," said Frick Andre, a commodity analyst who covers BP at Credit Suisse in Zurich.
BP is no stranger to Middle East investment. Kuwait has owned shares in the company since it was first listed in London in the 1980s but U.K. regulators forced it to reduce its stake in 1998 to less than 10% from 21.6%. According to data provider FactSet, the Kuwait Investment Authority held a 2.8% stake, or 530.5 million shares, in BP as of June 1.
Sheila Williams, a spokeswoman for BP in London, declined to comment on specific meetings but said Mr. Hayward "is visiting key business partners as well as staff."
A spokesman for the crown prince was unreachable for comment. A spokesman for the federal government in Abu Dhabi said he had no knowledge of the meetings.
BP on Tuesday moved to douse speculation that it was looking for an investor to buy a large piece of the company, saying it wouldn't issue new stock to raise money to cover the costs of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Libya's top oil official, Shokri Ghanem, said Monday that BP was a bargain and recommended that the nation's sovereign wealth fund invest in the oil giant.
BP shares last traded 4.1% higher. The U.K. oil giant's stock has lost almost half its value since the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion on April 20 that triggered the spill. BP said it captured about 24,980 barrels of crude from the underwater gusher on Monday, indicating that oil-recovery efforts have stabilized after high seas hindered its efforts late last week.
The company potentially faces tens of billions of dollars of liabilities related to the spill. BP has so far spent $3.12 billion on cleanup, containment and compensation, and has promised to pay a further $20 billion into an independently administered fund to cover future liabilities over the next three and a half years.
Separately, a BP spokesman said the company hasn't agreed to demands that it notify the U.S. Department of Justice at least 30 days ahead of any significant financial or asset transactions. The company has received a letter from the Justice Department making this demand, but hasn't yet responded, the spokesman said.
Corrections & Amplifications:
A previous version of this article incorrectly said that BP's shares recently traded up 43%. At the time, the company's shares were up 4.3%.
Mr. Hayward flew into Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for meetings with officials including the crown prince and also spoke to the company's employees in the emirate in a town-hall gathering, according to a person familiar with his itinerary. "He'd be happy for Abu Dhabi to take a 10% equity stake," said the person, who asked not to be identified.
Abu Dhabi would be an influential friend for embattled BP as the company prepares to fend off any possible hostile takeover from a larger international rival after its market value was pummeled by the rising cost of the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. The sheikdom controls 90% of the oil in the United Arab Emirates and is a key U.S. ally in the Middle East.
"This will certainly improve the liquidity position and also give a little more stability to BP," said Frick Andre, a commodity analyst who covers BP at Credit Suisse in Zurich.
BP is no stranger to Middle East investment. Kuwait has owned shares in the company since it was first listed in London in the 1980s but U.K. regulators forced it to reduce its stake in 1998 to less than 10% from 21.6%. According to data provider FactSet, the Kuwait Investment Authority held a 2.8% stake, or 530.5 million shares, in BP as of June 1.
Sheila Williams, a spokeswoman for BP in London, declined to comment on specific meetings but said Mr. Hayward "is visiting key business partners as well as staff."
A spokesman for the crown prince was unreachable for comment. A spokesman for the federal government in Abu Dhabi said he had no knowledge of the meetings.
BP on Tuesday moved to douse speculation that it was looking for an investor to buy a large piece of the company, saying it wouldn't issue new stock to raise money to cover the costs of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Libya's top oil official, Shokri Ghanem, said Monday that BP was a bargain and recommended that the nation's sovereign wealth fund invest in the oil giant.
BP shares last traded 4.1% higher. The U.K. oil giant's stock has lost almost half its value since the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion on April 20 that triggered the spill. BP said it captured about 24,980 barrels of crude from the underwater gusher on Monday, indicating that oil-recovery efforts have stabilized after high seas hindered its efforts late last week.
The company potentially faces tens of billions of dollars of liabilities related to the spill. BP has so far spent $3.12 billion on cleanup, containment and compensation, and has promised to pay a further $20 billion into an independently administered fund to cover future liabilities over the next three and a half years.
Separately, a BP spokesman said the company hasn't agreed to demands that it notify the U.S. Department of Justice at least 30 days ahead of any significant financial or asset transactions. The company has received a letter from the Justice Department making this demand, but hasn't yet responded, the spokesman said.
Corrections & Amplifications:
A previous version of this article incorrectly said that BP's shares recently traded up 43%. At the time, the company's shares were up 4.3%.
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