BP pushes oil spill asset sales to $20bn
BP today raised $7.06 billion (£4.53 billion) from selling another asset to help pay for compensation for the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.
The company sold its 60% stake in Argentina's Pan American Energy to its joint venture partner Bridas Corporation, which is half-owned by China National Offshore Oil Corporation.
It takes the total cash that the oil giant has made from divestment this year to almost $21 billion, and means it is one step closer to raising up to $30 billion through asset disposals by the end of next year.
BP needs the cash to pay for the $20 billion compensation fund it was forced to set up by the White House to reimburse fishermen and others affected by the largest ever offshore oil spill, which started in April.
Bob Dudley, the new American chief executive who replaced Tony Hayward in July, said the deal "demonstrates both the high quality and attractiveness of the assets throughout BP's global portfolio".
He claimed it also proved "the company's ability to meet the significant financial commitments arising from the Gulf of Mexico tragedy" and added: "We will continue to identify further assets that may be strategically more valuable to others than to BP as we complete the programme."
BP's other big deals this year include its $7 billion sale of onshore gas assets in the US, Canada and Egypt to American firm Apache, its sale of oil and gas fields in Vietnam and Venezuela for $1.8 billion to its Russian joint venture TNK-BP and Colombian assets for $1.9 billion.
Shares in BP rose 4.1p to 440.5p.
