Big Oil Majors Looking to Sell $27 Billion in Assets Worldwide
The United Kingdom’s BP aims to sell some assets in the U.S., including in New Mexico’s gassy San Juan Basin, after spending $10.5 billion to buy the Texas shale assets of BHP. Houston’s ConocoPhillips, for instance, already wants to sell its newer position in the Louisiana Austin Chalk for less than $1 billion, although other Houston firms Marathon Oil and EOG Resources are still operating in the region.
“While
oil and gas majors increase their focus on core areas and divest mature assets
and interests in geopolitically unstable regions, observers will be following
closely to see how investors react and what other steps these energy giants
will take to keep stakeholders interested amid rising climate concerns and
geopolitical volatility,” said Rystad analyst Ranjan Saxena.
Exxon
Mobil has the most for sale as it plans to divest $15 billion of assets by
2021. Exxon Mobil recently sold its Norwegian North Sea assets for $4.5
billion, but also for sale include Exxon Mobil’s position in the UK North Sea
for up to $2 billion, certain Gulf of Mexico assets, as well as additional
assets in Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Nigeria and Azerbaijan.
Chevron
aims to sell its stake in offshore Nigerian fields for close to $2 billion.
Apart
from its northwestern New Mexico position, BP also is interested in selling
assets in the United Kingdom and Kazakhstan, while Royal Dutch Shell aims to
sell its positions in Egypt and Indonesia.
The
French energy major Total wants to sell acreage in the Netherlands and Nigeria.
Total is buying the Africa assets of Houston’s Occidental Petroleum – acquired
from Oxy buying Anadarko Petroleum – for $8.8 billion, including a crown jewel
liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique, so Total is looking to unload some
other assets.
“The expected transactions mean some of the majors are poised to exit certain regions, giving regional players and independents a chance to buy into key fields and help keep them profitable through production-life extensions and new developments,” Saxena said.