Brendan Nelson, a non-executive director of BP and a chairman of the firm's audit committee, has dipped his hand into his pocket and bought just under £50,000 worth of shares in the oil giant.

Nelson, a chartered accountant and a partner in accountancy giant KPMG, paid slightly less than 450p a share, a good 85p or so above the price the shares were trading at as recently as September.

Just a week ago, BP tied up another loose end from the Gulf of Mexico Macondo well disaster, when US-listed oil and gas equipment firm Cameron International, the company which designed and manufactured the Deepwater Horizon 'blow-out preventer', agreed to pay the UK oil titan $250m to settle all claims between them related to last year's tragic incident.

The settlement will by applied to the $20bn trust BP created to deal with claims and costs arising from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010.

Following this agreement, both companies have agreed to drop all claims against each other. However, the agreement "is not an admission of liability by either party", BP said.

Top Director Buys

Reconstruction Capital II Ltd. (RC2)
Director name: Mr Ion Alexander Florescu
Amount purchased: 520,993 @ € 0.46
Value: € 239,657

Reconstruction Capital II Ltd. (RC2)
Director name: Mr Dirk Van den Broeck
Amount purchased: 355,994 @ € 0.46
Value: € 163,757

Active Risk Group (ARI)
Director name: Mr Lynton Barker
Amount purchased: 400,000 @ 37.00p
Value: £148,000

Coastal Energy Co (DI) (CEO)
Director name: Mr C. Robert Black
Amount purchased: 10,000 @ 807.90p
Value: £80,790

Reconstruction Capital II Ltd. (RC2)
Director name: Mr Howard Ira Golden
Amount purchased: 250,000 @ € 0.46
Value: € 115,000

Faroe Petroleum (FPM)
Director name: Mr Graham Stewart
Amount purchased: 49,611 @ 156.55p
Value: £77,666

Faroe Petroleum (FPM)
Director name: Mr Helge Hammer
Amount purchased: 44,058 @ 156.55p
Value: £68,973

Faroe Petroleum (FPM)
Director name: Mr Iain M Lanaghan
Amount purchased: 35,972 @ 156.55p
Value: £56,314

BP (BP.)
Director name: Mr Brendan Nelson
Amount purchased: 11,040 @ 449.94p
Value: £49,673

Tristel (TSTL)
Director name: Mr Francisco Angel Soler
Amount purchased: 80,000 @ 38.00p
Value: £30,400


Top Director Sells

Tristel (TSTL)
Director name: Mr Paul Christopher Swinney
Amount sold: 80,000 @ 38.00p
Value: £30,400

--
jh

Related share prices
BP (BP.) share price
Active Risk Group (ARI) share price
Faroe Petroleum (FPM) share price
Coastal Energy Co (DI) (CEO) share price
Tristel (TSTL) share price
Reconstruction Capital II Ltd. (RC2) share price