Shopping: BP boss Tony Hayward gets Devon stakes in US, Brazil and Azeri fileds
BP takes $7bn bite of Devon
UK supermajor BP has agreed to buy Brazilian, Azeri and Gulf of Mexico assets from Devon Energy for $7 billion, as the US producer refocuses on onshore US fields.
The companies said today that BP has also agreed to sell Devon a 50% stake in its Kirby oil sands interests in Alberta, Canada, for $500 million.
The deal gives BP the entry into Brazil which chief executive Tony Hayward has long eyed.
However, Devon's assets are in the Campos basin, rather than the Santos basin where most excitement is focused after multi-billion barrel discoveries in recent years.
Devon announced its asset sale programme in November, saying it hoped to pull in as much as $7.5 billion for its international and Gulf of Mexico assets as it looks to focus on its onshore oil and gas fields in North America.
The company has already sold its interest in three deep-water development projects in the Gulf of Mexico for about $1.3 billion.
BP is also buying around 240 leases in the Gulf of Mexico, including Devon's 30% interest in the major Kaskida discovery, in which BP already has a 70% stake.
BP is also adding to its existing interest in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli oilfield off the coast of Azerbaijan.
Devon's 5.63% stake will increase BP's interest in ACG, which produces 820,000 barrels of oil per day, to 39.77%.
The parties will form a 50-50 joint venture to develop the 90,000 net acres of oil sands at Kirby, and this will be operated by Devon.