BP quits Alaska after 60 years in £4.5bn deal as it moves away from oil and gas drilling
- BP is disposing of its interests in several oil fields and the Trans-Alaska pipeline to local firm Hilcorp
- The deal marks a major change for BP, which began working in Alaska in 1959
- It also throws the jobs of 1,600 staff into doubt
Oil titan BP is set to sell all its operations in Alaska for £4.5billion as it continues its move away from conventional oil and gas drilling.
Just months after the British firm spent £8billion on BHP Group’s shale oil and gas assets, it is disposing of its interests in several oil fields and the Trans-Alaska pipeline to local firm Hilcorp.
The deal marks a major change for BP, which began working in Alaska in 1959 and is expected to generate almost 74,000 barrels per day from the US state this year.
The deal to sell its Alaskan operations throws the jobs of 1,600 staff into doubt
But it throws the jobs of 1,600 staff into doubt. BP said it was ‘committed to providing clarity about their future as soon as possible’, and chief executive Bob Dudley said: ‘Our exit from Alaska does not in any way diminish BP’s commitment to America.
‘We remain very bullish on the US energy sector. In just the last three years we have invested more than $20billion in the US and we will continue to look at further investment opportunities here.’
BP has spent decades drilling in Alaska’s massive 214,000-acre Prudhoe Bay field, the most prolific in US history, and has produced more than 13billion barrels of oil, far exceeding expectations of 9.6billion barrels. It also helped build the 800-mile pipeline, one of the world’s longest.
The sale is the latest deal by oil majors to rid themselves of conventional assets, where rigs extract oil and gas from large wells in the ground. Many are now choosing to focus on unconventional and often controversial methods of extraction, like fracking, which can capture oil and gas trapped in previously unreachable spaces such as between layers of shale.
BP is trying to sell £8billion of assets by 2020 to fund the massive BHP shale deal, agreed earlier this year, as it shifts its focus towards unconventional oil and gas assets and renewable energy.
Dudley said: ‘We are steadily reshaping BP and today we have other opportunities, both in the US and around the world, that are more closely aligned with our long-term strategy and more competitive for our investment.’
The Alaska sale, which includes interests in four oilfields including Prudhoe Bay, is still subject to US regulatory approval and is due to close next year.
Hilcorp, owned by Texan billionaire Jeffery Hildebrand, has been operating in the state since 2012 and employs 500 people there.
It specialises in pumping oil from mature fields, and will now take on the operation of Prudhoe Bay which last year pumped out about 270,000 barrels a day.
The announcement came after the stock market closed for the day. BP’s shares were up 0.01 per cent or 0.05p yesterday at 488.05p.