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BP HAS sold several oil fields in the US, Canada and Egypt to US-based independent oil and gas corporation Apache for $7b.

The sale is part of a wider scheme announced by BP to increase its 2010 divestments from $2–3b to $10b in an effort to balance the books and pay for the clean-up and containment operations in the Gulf of Mexico. Apache’s new acquisitions are BP's oil and gas operations, acreage and infrastructure in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, US, and the Western Desert, Egypt, the East Badr El-din exploration concession in Egypt and BP’s upstream natural gas business in western Alberta and British Columbia in Canada.

The ten gas fields in the Permian basin have net proven reserves of 126m bbl, with net resources of 148m bbl. Production during the first half of 2010 equalled 15,110 bbl of liquids and 2.3m m³/d of gas. The Canadian assets have net proven reserves of 214m bbl and net resources of 1368m bbl, and have a net production of 6529 bbl and 6.8m m³/d of gas.  The Egyptian assets have a net production 6016 bbl/d and around 310 m³/d of gas.

"This is a rare opportunity to acquire legacy positions from a major oil company, with oil and gas production, acreage, infrastructure, seismic data, field studies, exploration prospects and other essential aspects of our business. We seldom have an opportunity like this in one of our core areas let alone three. This is a step change that will add muscle," says Apache chairman and ceo Steven Farris.

BP chief executive Tony Hayward said that the company had achieved an excellent price for the assets which underlined its “ability and determination to get maximum value”.

Apache will pay BP $5b by 30 July, $3.25b for the Canada assets, $1.5b for the Permian assets and $0.25b for the Egyptian assets, with the balance to follow at the completion of the transaction. If for some reason the sale does not go ahead, this money will be refunded. The sale of each asset will be undertaken separately, with all deals expected to be complete by the end of Q3 2010, subject to regulatory approval.

BP is also set to dispose of all its upstream assets in Vietnam and Pakistan. Company spokesman Robert Wine tells tce that the company has notified the countries’ governments of its intention to sell the assets and the sale process is underway.