The company announced plans to sell its
BP pledged last month to set up a
fund to pay claims for disaster victims. It planned to finance the fund
by suspending its dividend for the rest of the year, cutting back
capital spending and selling up to
“This is a good deal for BP because it frees up more cash if they need it,” said
The announcement comes days after BP placed a cap over the errant well, which had been spewing oil since the deadly
Eleven people were killed in the accident, and the subsequent oil spill
has become the worst in U.S. history, fouling beaches in five states.
“Over the last two months the board has considered
BP’s options for generating the cash necessary to meet the obligations
likely to arise from the
spill,” Svanberg said. “The board believes that there are opportunities
to divest assets which are strategically more valuable to other parties
than they are to BP.”
Apache, which already operates near the BP properties, is known for its
ability to extract oil from older fields that have been in operation
for many years.
“I think (Apache) looked at this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that they just couldn’t pass up,” Flynn said.
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