Regal Group International: BP Plc. is battling to restore share price after Gulf disaster.

– When Robert Dudley took over in July as the new CEO of BP Plc. after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill he was handed the mammoth task of rebuilding the company's public image and restoring the share price. Strengthening the share price is now rapidly gaining urgency Regal Group International was told, as BP begins to fall further behind Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

The firms market value is currently around $67 billion lower than that of Royal Dutch Shell, the widest gap since the height of the disaster at the end of June. Royal Dutch Shell, Europe's biggest oil firm has gained 5.2% in the last month while BP has seen its shares drop by 0.2%. BP was worth more than Shell as recently as the beginning of this year.

The dismal performance by the London-based firm increases the pressure on the new CEO to follow through on his plan to sell $30 billion of its assets to cover spill claims and to begin to start paying dividends again. Analysts believe that investors will dump BP if results aren't forthcoming, reigniting speculations that BP could be split up or even taken over, Regal Group International has learned.

"BP is held by a lot of private investors and pension funds because of the dividend," an analyst at SVM Asset Management in Edinburgh who has sold all his BP shares this year told Regal Group International sources. "If Dudley doesn't pay it, the stock price will go lower and they'll be more vulnerable."

Tony Hayward, BP's CEO during the Gulf spill cancelled the firm's 14-cents-a-share dividend for the first three quarters of this year to free up funds to pay for the cleanup and compensation. Dudley recently announced that the board would meet before the end of the year to consider restoring the dividend "in some form" for the fourth quarter.

On the horizon "the reason for any potential takeover would be if Dudley doesn't bring back the dividend," another analyst told Regal Group International sources. "He's almost promised it, and if he doesn't deliver, the stock will fall and the Chinese will be hovering over it."


# # #