BP said today that it will sell most of its Pakistan assets to Britain-based firm United Energy Group, as part of sales to pay for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
'UEG will pay BP a total of $775m in cash for these assets which consist of nine producing and exploration blocks in Sindh province and four offshore exploration blocks in the Arabian Sea,' a statement from the company said.
The deal, expected to be completed in the first half of next year, is part of BP's ongoing divestment plan to pay for the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.
'The sale of these interests in Pakistan is part of BP's plan, announced in July 2010, to divest up to $30 billion of assets by the end of 2011,' BP said.
'Before the agreement to sell these assets in in Pakistan, BP already had sales agreements in place totalling approximately $21 billion,' it added.
BP chief executive Bob Dudley said the company was making speedy progress towards its goal. 'Today's agreement is further evidence of the rapid progress BP has made towards the divestment target we set out,' he said.
'We now have agreements to secure the majority of our divestment target. We are continuing to identify further assets that may be strategically more valuable to others than to BP as we complete the programme,' he added.
