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LONDON-
BP
PLC acquires some of the most fashionable assets in the country of American shales, a signal that the troubled company is recovering its ambitions to regain its place among the giants global oil companies.
Most of the shale assets of BHP Billiton Ltd. in Australia are the most important of BP for almost 20 years. The company also raised its dividend for the second quarter Friday, a sign of financial strength that it has not managed to collect since the fall in oil prices in 2014.
BP is progressing strongly on a Five-year plan to reverse the years of retrenchment after its fatal explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. The 2010 disaster forced the company to sell billions of dollars worth of assets and has so far cost more than $ 65 billion in cleanup costs and legal fees. But a $ 20 billion settlement with the US government in 2015 paved the way for new business growth
Last year, it launched seven new projects, including the Giant Gas Project from Khazzan to Oman and the development of Zohr gas. offshore Egypt. She plans to increase her production by 5%, helping her to generate free cash flow of $ 13 to $ 14 billion by 2021 and to return to her size by the end of the decade. .
BP's cash target is expected to increase by $ 1 billion, while adding 190,000 barrels per day of oil and gas production and 4.6 billion barrels of untapped resources, said the company. It strengthens BP's position in some of the world's most desirable oil producing regions, including the Permian in western Texas.
"It's a strategic agreement in one of the most prolific basins in the world," CFO
Brian Gilvary
says
Chief of Exploration and Production
Bernard Looney
He said that until now, BP's activities in the shale sector were perceived by some as "a superior operating team on a set of lower assets". The agreement reached for BHP's assets changes that, he said. "This brings us to the very heart of the most talked about oil game in the world today."
To get the deal, BP beat the bids of its rivals, including
Royal Dutch Shell
PLC and
Chevron
Corp.
, according to a person familiar with the subject. In June, Chief Executive Officer
Bob Dudley
60 companies participated in the first round of negotiations
The big oil companies are injecting money into shale assets, fighting for access to the best acreage in Texas. Although historically, they have struggled to compete with more agile independents in the United States, the big players have increased their game in recent years.
In times of volatile oil prices, shale is particularly attractive. with the big offshore projects that are the bread and butter of companies like BP and Chevron. BP sold its acreage in the Permian in 2010 to help pay off its debts in the Gulf of Mexico.
"This agreement transforms BP's operations in the United States", said
Maxim Petrov,
Senior analyst at Wood Mackenzie, Edinburgh-based consulting firm.
Write to Sarah Kent at [email protected]
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