BP is not planning to issue new shares, the company said yesterday, in spite of the pressure on its finances caused by its huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The group has been making overtures to investors in countries where it has good relationships, including the United Arab Emirates, in an attempt to encourage them to buy shares, but the company said that it was not trying to bring in strategic investors with new equity.
Libya's top oil official on Monday said that his country's sovereign wealth fund should invest in BP to take advantage of the troubled company's falling share price. Shokri Ghanem, chairman of Libya's national oil company, made the comments as BP made contact with Middle Eastern investors.