BP Asset Sale: A Glimpse of What the Company Will Look Like

For a glimpse at what BP will look like post-Gulf oil spill, just take a look at what assets the company has sold so far -- and more importantly, the ones it hasn't -- as part of its planned $30 billion portfolio dump.

Earlier this summer, I argued that BP's planned asset sale to help pay for the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico wouldn't change the company's primary focus: exploration and production of oil and gas, especially in the Gulf and Canada's oil sands. And even though the sums in question sound significant, they're not when you consider that BP values its total assets at $250 billion.

The sales so far have been fairly predictable and make sense. BP isn't holding a fire sale, instead it has put thought into the assets that don't fit into its core operations.

BP is clearly committed to the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil and Azerbaijan, all assets it bought earlier this year from Devon Energy. The company also is moving forward with its plans in the Canadian oil sand; has acquired an exploration block in the South China Sea; and bought additional interest in the BP-operated Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli oilfield in the Caspian Sea.

The big remaining question is whether BP will hold onto its assets in Alaska, which includes a 26 percent interest in Prudhoe Bay.

Assets sold to date:

• Its 60 percent stake in Argentina's Pan American Energy for $7.06 billion to Bridas Corp., which is owned by China's CNOOC and the Bulgheroni family.
• Fuels marketing operations in Namibia, Botswana and Zambia to Puma Energy and 50 percent interests in BP Malawi and BP Tanzania for $296 million (the decision to sell these assets was made before the Gulf oil spill);
• Interests in four mature producing deepwater oil and gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico to Marubeni Oil and Gas for $650 million. BP bought these fields from Devon Energy earlier in 2010.
• Upstream businesses and interests in Venezuela and Vietnam to TNK-BP -- the 50-50 joint venture formed in 2003 between BP and Russian oligarchs -- for $1.8 billion.
• Interests in ethylene and polyethylene production in Malaysia to Petronas for $363 million;
• Oil and gas exploration, production and transportation business in Colombia to a consortium of Ecopetrol and Talisman of Canada for $1.9 billion.
• Upstream assets in the U.S., Canada and Egypt, including Permian Basin assets in Texas and New Mexico, to Apache Corp. for $7 billion.
• Crude oil storage in Oklahoma and 100 miles of active pipeline to Magellan Midstream Partners for $289 million. (This is part of a pipeline divestment strategy announced in 2009)

• Gulf Oil Spill: The Movie -- What We Can Expect From BP's Propaganda Film
• BP's Alaska Mess: Why the Company Has to Sell Its Holdings There