BP said Friday that the cost of oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico reached eight billion dollars and he would need another two weeks to completely seal the well to the source of this pollution.
BP also reported that there had been no major upward revision in the amount of compensation paid to victims of the spill.
The compensation fund for victims of 20 billion dollars, called Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) and active since August 23, pays about 3.5 million per day.This figure is broadly in line with what BP paid himself before the fund takes over.
Under pressure from the White House, the British oil giant pledged in June to fund an escrow account of $ 20 billion over four years.
The Japanese Minister of Finance has honed his arguments Wednesday on the strength of the yen after the Nikkei newspaper had reported that Tokyo would consider unilateral intervention on the foreign exchange market if speculators push the yen upwards.
While it should meet in the day Prime Minister Naoto Kan and other members of the Government, the Minister of Finance Yoshihiko Noda told reporters that he would intervene appropriately whether to do so, speech he had not taken up.
"When necessary shall have to act appropriately," he said in response to a question about the evolution of the yen.
Market participants, however, questioned the ability of unilateral intervention to contain the strong yen, which hit a high Tuesday of 15 years against the dollar and nine years against the euro and weighs heavily on the Stock Exchange Tokyo which closed Wednesday at a low of 16 months.
"The dollar fell to 83 yen, the probability of intervention has increased, but it would take more than intervention," said Kiichi Murashima, an economist at Citigroup Global Markets.
"This must be accompanied by an easing (of monetary policy) of the BoJ (Bank of Japan) to have any effect."
DOUBTS ON MEASURES TAKEN the radical
The soaring yen and the decline of the Tokyo Stock Exchange have increased the probability of announcing a further easing of monetary policy the Bank of Japan before its next meeting on interest rates scheduled for 6 and 7 September, Reuters said sources familiar with the matter.
Speculators doubt however that the BoJ is ready to take drastic measures.
"If they really want to do something about the yen (…) they must create the conditions to anticipate inflation," said Martin Schulz, senior economist at Fujitsu Research Institute.
"But I do not think the BoJ will move in that direction."
While it took nearly 10% since the beginning of the year against the greenback, against which it was trading around 5:45 GMT at 84.28 dollars, some investors believe the greenback could fall to a record high against the Japanese currency, at least 80 dollars.
So far the Japanese authorities tried to contain the strong yen by simple oral statements, the Minister of Finance stressed on Tuesday the growing irritation of Tokyo against the Japanese currency rise.
Now, about Yoshihiko Noda had the opposite effect to that intended, because dealers have so wanted to test the determination of Japanese authorities to stem the yen's appreciation.Why he decided to get tough on Wednesday.
EMERGENCY MEETING
Tokyo should be difficult to convince the United States and Europe to join its efforts on the foreign exchange market, weakening their own currencies being favorable to their exports.
Yoshihiko Noda declined to comment on rumors suggesting a possible meeting with Secretary of U.S. Treasury Timothy Geithner. The U.S. Treasury has not made any comments.
Japan is no longer intervened on the foreign exchange market since 2004.But the situation is becoming even more worrying than the Japanese export growth slowed to an annual rate in the fifth consecutive month in July.
According to an estimate of Nomura Securities, every increase of one yen against the dollar will result in a decrease of 0.9% of current earnings of major Japanese manufacturing groups for fiscal year 2010-2011, which will close in March.
According to sources close to the situation, the most likely scenario is that the BoJ will increase the size, or prolongs the duration of its mechanism of short-term financing in place in December.
The Nikkei newspaper wrote Wednesday that the BoJ intends to take further monetary easing and could do so in the context of an emergency meeting.
The BP has decided that its chief executive Tony Hayward must leave office because of his handling of the spill, and his departure will probably be announced within 36 hours, officials said Sunday, sources close to the group.
The board of BP is due to meet Monday to determine how the departure of Hayward and its replacement by Bob Dudley, the American leader who also oversees the fight against the oil spill, sources said.
Replace Hayward at this stage of operations could be difficult for BP.Well Macondo, which lets out of oil since the explosion of the platform Deepwater Horizon April 20, has not yet been definitively blocked.
If problems occur during the recent operations, Dudley's reputation could also suffer.
But the fact that the leak has been controlled for over a week by a temporary containment has led the company to be more concerned about the future of its chief executive.
According to sources, Hayward acknowledged that he was in the interests of BP let him go.
The British oil giant has lost 40% of its stock value since the beginning of the disaster.The group would not comment on rumors of departure from Hayward, declaring that he was general manager with the full support of the board of directors.
A spokesman for BP declined to repeat the news last week that the board does not even discussed the future of Hayward.
In the Gulf of Mexico, ships trying to stop the leak came back Sunday on the site after being forced to move away from threats of Tropical Storm Bonnie, now dissipated.
The next step is now the operation known as "static kill", which is to inject heavy fluids and cement into a pit pass.
This operation could begin in three to five days, according to Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who directs operations for the U.S. government.
The turboprop manufacturer ATR announced that it recorded 42 orders and delivered 26 aircraft in the first half.
The joint venture of the European group EADS and Italy's Finmeccanica said in a statement that, taking into account the options, the number of orders placed since January 1 amounted to 72 aircraft.
"We will deliver between 50 and 54 aircraft this year," he told a news conference at the Farnborough Airshow near London, Filippo Bagnato, Chief Executive Officer of ATR.
During the presentation of its annual sales results on January 18, ATR stated aim of delivering more than 50 aircraft this year after delivering 54 aircraft to their owners in 2009.
The group, which achieved a turnover of 1.4 billion dollars last year, added provide a stable revenue in 2010.
Angela Merkel said Wednesday that the euro had stabilized and he had a better basis than before the debt crisis of the Greek through measures to reduce the debt established in the euro area.
"The euro has stabilized," Merkel said in an interview with German television station N24, according to the text released by the media.
"This is an important signal that banks are conducting stress tests and we have more transparency in the system.And it is gratifying that in contrast with what was in the spring, almost all European countries are now saying that we need to reduce deficits and reliance has structural reforms. "
She added: "Once fully implemented the measures decided reliance has, it will mean that the euro is a stronger base than before the crisis. We must await the results of resistance testing. But we are ready, aves rescue measures of the euro, to stabilize the euro at any time. "
Growth in manufacturing output slowed in June in Europe, the euro zone even dropped below four months, further indication of lack of breath from the economic recovery in the region.
The final results of the survey conducted among Markit purchasing managers, the PMI manufacturing sector in the euro area stood at 55.6 in June, a level consistent with the flash estimate and slightly below the 55 , 8 May.
Economists do not take the alarm to prevent a risk of sudden halt to growth in Europe, but it seems clear that economic activity has probably reached its maximum rate during the quarter just s' complete and that interest rates should be maintained at low levels until next year.
"In many Western countries, we will see the pace of economic growth slowed in the second half of the year.This is the path that one takes, "said Mark Miller, economist at Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets in London.
"In continental Europe, exports remain an engine of economic growth but I do not know how long this can continue."
In France, growth in manufacturing activity slowed for the second consecutive month the sector has continued to destroy jobs.By dipping to 55.8 in June, the PMI Markit / FASC has reached its lowest level since December 2009.
Similarly, the UK manufacturing activity slowed to its lowest level in 10 months when she had reached a high of 15 in May
In contrast, activity in Germany has kept pace in June than in May, with an index that has emerged even slightly higher than the first estimate published two weeks ago.
The slowdown in manufacturing activity is not unique to Europe and key emerging countries as well as India and especially China are also involved.
While economists do not expect a recurrence of the global economy into recession, some warn that most developed countries could face a protracted period of sluggish growth.
