BP PLC will sell its gas fields and gas pipeline in Vietnam as well as assets and exploration licenses in Pakistan as part of its effort to cover the cost of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a company spokesman said Tuesday.
Neither country is a core area for BP—the two combined accounted for just more than 2% of the company’s total natural-gas output last year. ING analyst Jason Kenney estimates that BP could raise about $1.7 billion by pulling out of both countries.
“I think the point is that they have a lot of assets that are considered peripheral [to BP] but that could be of interest to other people,” Mr. Kenney said.
BP’s lubricant business In Pakistan isn’t for sale, a company spokesman said. BP hopes to sell the Pakistan assets by the end of the year, but the spokesman wasn’t sure of the timetable for the Vietnam assets.
“We have talked to the government and staff,” about the plans to sell the gas fields, which feed a power station that supplies a significant proportion of Vietnam’s electricity, he said. “We will now start looking for buyers and they will start looking for us,” he said.
Full story: BP to Sell Assets in Vietnam, Pakistan to Cover Spill Costs – WSJ.com