2 Pre-Open News: BP plc (NYSE:BP) & Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK)

BP inching towards Gulf oilfields sale to Plains

According to sources, BP plc (ADR)(NYSE:BP) plans to sell some of its oilfields in the Gulf of Mexico and is discussing the same with Plains Exploration and Production Co., the likely buyer.  While there is no official statement on this development, Plains is reportedly offering a price of $6 billion and an agreement may be just days away.  Earlier in the year, BP CEO Bob Dudley had said that the company plans to sell a few non-strategic assets in the Gulf. He had also stated that he wants to focus on production hubs of the Thunder Horse, Atlantis, Mad Dog and Na Kika fields.

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In August, Brett Clanton, a BP Spokesman had insisted that the company will not quit from the Gulf. In an email, he had said, “No one should confuse our effort to sell these older, non-strategic assets, which we announced months ago, with our ongoing commitment to the Gulf of Mexico.” he said. He had also said that BP will continue to invest at least $4 billion annually in the Gulf.

First a misleading ad and now an ethics review by Nokia

Nokia Corporation (ADR)(NYSE:NOK )’s marketing tactics are under the scanner after it released a promotional video with photographs that were not taken with the new Lumia 920 SmartPhone and failed to mention the same.  Possibly in an attempt to deflect criticism, the Finnish phone maker has said that it will conduct an ethics review to study by the company released such misleading material.  It had also posted an apology on the company blog for the confusion caused.

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This surely does not look like good PR for the Espoo based company which desperately wants to regain its hold in the phone market with its smartphones. In an attempt to challenge Apple’s iPhone and phones based on Google’s Android, Nokia introduced 2 new Lumia phones at a news conference in New York last week.