National business briefs for June 9

ExxonMobil strikes it big with oil discovery in Gulf

Exxon Mobil Corp. disclosed details Wednesday of an oil and gas field that could prove to be one of the largest discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico in recent years.

The oil giant said three discoveries at its exploration project 250 miles southwest of New Orleans have the combined potential for more than 700 million barrels of recoverable oil and gas equivalent.

Argus Research analyst Phil Weiss said he couldn't recall a discovery reported recently that was on that scale. He noted that there are some deep-water wells of significant size in the region, including Chevron Corp.'s Tahiti project with an estimated total recoverable resources of 400 million to 500 million barrels of oil and gas equivalent.

BP has a stake in a number of wells such as the Tiber project, which is expected to be one of the largest discoveries in the U.S. Weiss said BP hasn't announced how much it will be able to recover yet.

BP also operates Thunder Horse, a deep-water well designed to process 250,000 barrels of oil per day.

Wells Fargo rolls out fixed-rate student loans

Wells Fargo is hoping to make its student loans more attractive to families.

The San Francisco-based bank says it is now offering fixed-rate student loans, which is a departure from the industry practice. Unlike federal student loans, the private student loans issued by banks typically come with variable interest rates that are tied to a benchmark rate.

Wells Fargo says its fixed rates will range from 7.75 to 14.25 percent, depending on the credit background of the applicant or co-signer, who is often a parent. Even on the low end, however, Wells Fargo's fixed rates are higher than the 6.8 percent fixed rate on most federal student loans. Federal loans also offer safeguards that do not come with private student loans.

Wells Fargo also said this week that it will give existing customers who take out new student loans a 1 percent discount on interest rates.

Elsewhere

•Sales of McDonald's fruit and maple oatmeal and drinks like frozen strawberry lemonade pushed the fast-food chain's revenue at restaurants open at least 13 months up 3.1 percent in May. That number is a slowdown from the 4.8 percent the company recorded a year ago. Some analysts had been expecting more: 3.6 percent, according to Jefferies & Co., and 3.8 percent, according to Stifel Nicolaus & Co.

•France's Axa Private Equity said Wednesday that it agreed to buy a $1.7 billion private-equity portfolio from Citigroup Inc. as the big U.S. bank sheds some of its non-core businesses. Terms of the deal announced were not disclosed. The portfolio includes 207 limited partnership interests in private-equity buyout funds and a portfolio of direct stakes in companies. It does not include funds or investments managed by Citi Capital Advisors.

•Driven by the success of the iPhone and iPad, Apple has become the world's largest buyer of chips for computers and phones. A research firm, IHS iSuppli, said Wednesday that Apple bought $17.5 billion worth of chips last year, surpassing computer maker Hewlett-Packard Co. as the largest consumer. That was an increase of 80 percent from the year before.

•A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Wednesday agree to give Washington Mutual Inc. more time to try to nail down an agreement that would resolve shareholders' long-standing objections to the bank holding company's proposed reorganization plan. Judge Mary Walrath postponed a scheduled June 29 hearing to begin considering the company's existing reorganization plan so it can continue working to finalize a revised plan that would satisfy shareholders. The new hearing date is July 5.

•The Internal Revenue Service did not require proof from people claiming deductions for new vehicle purchases allowed under the 2009 economic stimulus act, and has been slow to investigate claims for excessive deductions, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said in a report issued Wednesday. It said the IRS did not require third-party documentation of vehicle purchases or the amount of sales tax paid when taxpayers claimed deductions on their 2009 returns.

•The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that some chicken meat may contain small amounts of arsenic, though the agency is stressing that the amount is too tiny to be dangerous to people who eat it.

From wire reports