By David French and Shadia Nasralla
(Reuters) – BP is weighing the sale of minority stakes in two Gulf of Mexico projects, with each project estimated to be worth billions of dollars to the company, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.
BP is in the midst of a strategy reset as it refocuses on oil and gas after a failed pivot toward clean energy.
The London-listed energy company is considering bringing in partners in both its Kaskida and Tiber projects, the sources said.
One of the sources said BP could sell as much as 50% in each, adding that deliberations are at an early stage, and a formal auction process could kick off later this year.
Other energy majors and Gulf of Mexico operators would be the most likely buyers of the stakes, one industry executive said.
All the sources cautioned that no deal was guaranteed and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
BP declined a Reuters request for comment.
CEO Murray Auchincloss said last month during BP’s capital markets day that “if somebody wants to come and make a knockout bid on 25% of Kaskida, we’re open to it, but it has to be for value.”
Oil and gas companies often offer minority stakes in projects in development to free up capital invested in them.
Kaskida and Tiber are both currently fully owned by BP and are considered its top prospects in the Gulf of Mexico.
Both projects are in a complex geological structure called the Paleogene, where BP says it has discovered the equivalent of 10 billion barrels of oil and gas.
“Kaskida and Tiber are each worth in the billions of dollars, from a (present value) basis, to BP,” said Miles Sasser, senior research analyst at Wood Mackenzie.
BP is among the largest operators in U.S. Gulf waters, with five large projects.
The Kaskida project, greenlit by BP in July, will be the sixth, with production scheduled to start in 2029. The company says it will have capacity to pump 80,000 barrels per day of crude.
Tiber will follow if BP approves development later this year.
Auchincloss told the CERAWeek energy conference earlier this month that the United States will play a central role in BP’s renewed focus on oil and gas, along with the Middle East.
As part of the latest strategy revamp, Auchincloss has announced a $20 billion divestment target through to 2027 to help it reduce its debt to $14-18 billion from around $23 billion currently.
(Reporting by David French in New York and Shadia Nasralla in London; Editing by Anousha Sakoui and Joe Bavier)
