BP is in talks with Chinese to sell assets
BP COULD be close to securing a deal to shed parts or all of its $9bn (£5.9bn) stake in Pan American Oil to a state-owned Chinese bidder as the embattled oil major faces the worst ever recorded spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
It is understood that BP is holding talks with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation to sell part of its 60 per cent stake in the Argentinean production company.
The deal is thought to be part of the company’s plan to raise $10bn from selling assets to help fund the Gulf spill clean-up and the liabilities arising from the disaster.
Analysts believe the deal is a logical move for the Chinese, which are understood to already hold roughly 205m shares in BP.
One analyst commented that Blackstone, which is thought to be providing advice to BP through the sales process of its assets, has close connections in Asia.
BP declined to comment on the deal and said that it was always the company’s intentions to cut $10bn from its assets.
News worsened for BP yesterday after a government report in the US said that more than 140 million gallons of oil have leaked into the water, surpassing the Ixtoc I tragedy in 1979.
The report, which takes into account the oil already collected by BP, puts the spill as the worst recorded oil disaster the region.