Offshore staff
LONDON -- BP has agreed to sell its interests in the Wytch Farm, Wareham, Beacon, and Kimmeridge fields in southern England to Perenco UK for up to $610 million. Of this, $55 million is contingent on Perenco's future development of Beacon field and on oil price levels during 2011-13.
Wytch Farm produces oil via facilities on the Dorset coast, with some production coming from extended reach wells drilled offshore into the English Channel.
The sale forms part of BP's strategy, announced last July 2010, to divest up to $30 billion of its assets by the end of 2011. Prior to this agreement, BP had agreed sales totalling around $25 billion.
The company plans to invest in a more focused North Sea business across the northern and central UK North Sea, west of Shetland, and offshore Norway.
Trevor Garlick, regional president for BP North Sea, said: "The North Sea Region is a very important area for BP and we will sustain a significant business here for the long term. We are currently investing around $4 billion per annum of capital and operating expenditure, which includes four major new field development projects in the UK and two in Norway."
BP employees based at Wytch Farm will likely transfer to Perenco.
05/17/2011
