$BP News- Storm compounds oil spill along U.S. Gulf Coast; US sees new drilling moratorium in next few days

Energy

· BP first intercept well is ahead of schedule and about 600 feet from the leaking well; target completion date still mid-Aug (co says it would rather “under-promise and over-deliver” (Bloomberg) 

· BP – the co is sounding out buyers for some ~$10B worth of assets; Chinese companies may seek to buy a stake in the co’s Argentine assets (FT)    http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/47c4302c-853b-11df-9c2f-00144feabdc0.html

· Ship traffic resumes at most ports shut by Alex – Pilots began moving ships at most Gulf ports as weather improved following Hurricane Alex’s landfall. Reuters

· Storm compounds oil spill along U.S. Gulf Coast – Hurricane Alex ended up being one of the strongest in a few years and made its mark on the Gulf spill. The hurricane left BP unlikely to resume cleanup efforts for a fourth day. Reuters

· Tests to start on Gulf oil 'super skimmer' – A supertanker converted to operate as a giant oil skimmer is set to go through tests on Saturday to see if it is ready to be used in the Gulf spill cleanup. The carrier, owned by TMT shipping of Taiwan, can collect 500,000 barrels per day of contaminated water. Reuters

· US sees new drilling moratorium in next few days – The Obama administration expects to announce a new deep-water drilling moratorium in the next few days, which would affect exploratory wells at 500 feet or more. Reuters

· China Fishery cancels listing plan on Oslo bourse – China Fishery said it cancelled a plan to list itself on the Oslo bourse due to volatility in European markets. Reuters

· Belarus, Russia sign gas transit fee agreement – Gazprom and Beltransgaz signed an agreement to their gas transit contracts, according to the head of a Belarusian pipeline operator. Ria Novosti http://en.rian.ru/business/20100702/159662535.html

· LINE initiated buy at UBS.

· NS initiated N at JP Morgan.

· ATLS initiated N at JP Morgan