BP reportedly seeking sale of assets to Apache, ExxonMobil

BP is in talks to sell its Prudhoe Bay, Alaska assets to Apache Corp. as it seeks funds to pay for the biggest U.S. oil spill in history, according to a Bloomberg news report.

Robert Dye, a spokesman for Apache, and Max McGahan, a BP spokesman, declined to comment. The talks between BP and Apache were first reported yesterday by the London-based Sunday Times newspaper, which said the assets may be worth $12 billion.

The Sunday Times also said that Exxon Mobil Corp., based in Irving, Texas, has been told by the U.S. government it can look at a potential bid for BP.

BP owns a 26% share in Prudhoe Bay and neighboring fields in Alaska with Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips and Chevron Corp. The Prudhoe Bay field, the largest field in the U.S., came online in 1977 and can produce about 400,000 BOPD.

Prudhoe Bay and other Alaskan fields were BP’s largest source of crude in the Western Hemisphere in 2009 after the Gulf of Mexico. Alaskan fields provided one in every 14 barrels of oil BP pumped worldwide last year. BP operates or owns stakes in 20 other fields on Alaska’s North Slope, as well as four pipelines.

BP also is considering selling oil and natural gas fields in Colombia, Venezuela and Vietnam, according to the Bloomberg news report.

Source: Bloomberg