BP is in talks to sell some of its Gulf of Mexico
oil fields to Plains Exploration & Production Company for roughly $7bn looks
to raise money to pay for damages from the 2010 oil spill.
The amount BP will have to pay in damages for the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill is still in dispute. But last month the United
States Justice Department accused the company of gross negligence and willful
misconduct over the spill, a position that could lead to nearly $21bn in civil
damages if a federal judge agrees.
BP said in May that it was looking to sell a
number of mature fields in the Gulf of Mexico, including its positions in the
Marlin, Horn Mountain, Holstein, Ram Powell, and Diana Hoover fields.
A deal would be transformational for
Houston-based independent oil explorer and producer, Plains, which had a market
capitalization of $5.2bn. The company already has assets in the Gulf, as well
as in California, Texas, Louisiana, and the Gulf of Mexico.
Like many other independent US oil and gas
companies, Plains has been working to build up its oil assets, as the price for
US natural gas has been in a prolonged slump. It had previously estimated that
about 57 to 60 per cent of its 2012 production would be oil.
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