BP will receive a total of $1.9bn in cash, subject to customary post-completion price adjustments, for 100% of the shares in BP Exploration Company Colombia (BPXC). Subject to regulatory and other approvals, the sale is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
The sale of the Colombian business is part of BP’s plan to divest up to $30bn of assets over the next 18 months. Last month, BP agreed to sell assets in the US, Canada and Egypt to Apache for a total of $7bn, and the company has also recently informed governments of Pakistan and Vietnam that it intends to divest its upstream interests in those countries.
Tony Hayward, chief executive of BP, said: “BP has been involved in Colombia for more than 20 years and played a major role in finding and developing the country’s major oilfields. These have contributed significantly to BP’s global production over the years. But it now makes sense for the assets to go to owners more willing than BP to invest in their future development.”
Ecopetrol and Talisman are due to pay BP a cash deposit of $1.25bn with the balance of payment due on completion of the sale. Ecopetrol will hold a 51% interest in BPXC while Talisman will have the rest.
BPXC is BP’s wholly-owned subsidiary that holds the company’s oil and gas exploration, production and transportation interests in Colombia. BPXC has assets including interests in five producing fields in four association contracts, four separate pipeline interests and two offshore exploration blocks.
Net proved reserves total some 60 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) and BPXC’s net production is approximately 25,000boe a day.
