BP in $7bn sale as Hayward exit rumoured

21st Jul 2010 07:15

Embattled oil giant BP has sold $7bn (£4.6bn) of upstream assets in the United States, Canada and Egypt as talk that under fire boss Tony Hayward is on his way out gets louder.Apache Corporation has agreed to buy BP's Permian Basin assets in Texas and south-east New Mexico, its Western Canadian upstream gas assets, and Western Desert business and East Badr El-din exploration concessions in EgyptThe disposals are part of BP's plan, announced last month, to raise $10bn by offloading non-core assets to cover the cost of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.Proceeds will go towards funding a $20bn compensation fund, set up last month, with a chunk of that already covered following a decision to cut the dividend for the rest of this year.Investors were pleased with the news and appear not to be worried about Hayward's departure, possibly within the next ten weeks, according to the Times, quoting sources close to the company. the rumours have been denied.BP shares were up more than 3% at lunchtime Wednesday.The 53-year-old, who angered Americans with his "I want my life back" line shortly after an explosion at the Gulf well killed 11 workers, is expected to step down late August or early September. Commenting on today's asset sales, BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said: "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 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.""The board believes that there are opportunities to divest assets which are strategically more valuable to other parties than they are to BP." Apache is due to pay BP a cash deposit of $5bn on 30 July, split $3.25bn for Canada, $1.5bn for Permian and $0.25bn for Egypt.Another $1.7bn of assets in Vietnam and Pakistan are being offloaded, and experts reckon interests in Argentina's Pan American Energy and fields in Colombia and Venezuela could also go.