BP said to eye $10B bond offering

Embattled oil giant British Petroleum is said to be working to launch a plan to raise as much as $5 billion to $10 billion as early as next week, according to sources.

Wall Street firms including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, UBS, Standard Bank and The Blackstone Group are among a cadre of bankers with close relationships with the firm that are expected to be involved in any deal.

An exact structure for the planned offering and timing hasn’t been finalized, sources warned.

Sources say that any bond offering wouldn’t necessarily be used to create the $20 billion fund Uncle Sam is demanding to compensate victims of the gulf oil spill.

Instead, the bond offering is likely being issued in order to boost confidence in the company and show that the firm can still raise money in the public markets, said one Wall Street source.

The banks involved declined to comment, and a BP spokeswoman in London said the company “doesn’t comment on financial matters.”