SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- BP, a major energy firm in the U.S. state of Alaska, said on Tuesday it is leaving the Last Frontier after 60 years of presence there as it is planning to sell all of its Alaska business to Hilcorp Alaska.
BP said the sale, which is worth 5.6 billion U.S. dollars, will include BP's entire upstream and midstream business in the state, including BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. that owns all of BP's upstream oil and gas interests in Alaska, and BP Pipelines (Alaska) Inc.'s interest in the 800-mile (about 1,287-km) Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.
London-based BP has been the longtime operator of the mass oil field in Prudhoe Bay, which has yielded more than 13 billion barrels of oil since production began there in 1977.
"Alaska has been instrumental in BP's growth and success for well over half a century and our work there has helped shape the careers of many throughout the company," said Bob Dudley, BP group chief executive.
However, the transaction resulted from BP's efforts to reshape itself and explore other opportunities both in the United States and around the world, Dudley said.
The deal "underpins our two-year 10 billion dollars' divestment program, further strengthening our balance sheet and enabling us to pursue new advantaged opportunities for BP's portfolio within our disciplined financial framework," he added.
Under the transaction agreement, Hilcorp, the largest private operator in Alaska specializing in managing and optimizing mature oil and gas assets, will pay BP a total consideration of 5.6 billion dollars, comprising 4.0 billion payable near-term dollars and 1.6 billion dollars through an earn-out thereafter, according to BP.
The transaction is expected to be completed in 2020 and subject to state and federal regulatory approvals.
