British oil giants BP and Royal Dutch Shell will unveil their annual results next week, as traders' focus switches to corporate data after a slew of key economic releases. London's FTSE 100 index dipped 0.25 percent over the past week to finish at 5,881.37 points on Friday. All eyes Tuesday will be on BP as the group presents its figures for 2010, a year which was dominated by the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
BP may update its cost of the US disaster, which currently stands at about $40 billion (29.2 billion euros).
The Gulf of Mexico oil disaster was triggered by a blast on the Deepwater Horizon rig - leased by BP and operated by Transocean Energy - that killed 11 workers on April 20.
The broken well was eventually plugged but not before it gushed about 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf waters. The spill destroyed hundreds of miles of fragile coastlines and caused BP's share price to collapse.
It also forced the resignation of chief executive Tony Hayward and BP to announce that it was selling assets worth up to 30 billion dollars.
BP's fierce rival Royal Dutch Shell, meanwhile, will publish its annual earnings on Thursday. Traders this week focused on economic growth data from both sides of the Atlantic.
Britain's economy shrank by a surprise 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010, dashing expectations for modest growth, as the nation's fragile recovery was hit by harsh wintry weather, official data showed on Tuesday.
The unexpected slump, which has ended one year of growth, re-ignited market concerns that the country could be heading for a double-dip recession as state austerity measures also take their toll, analysts said. The US economy expanded by 3.2 percent in the last quarter of 2010, but missed economists' expectations, official data showed on Friday.
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