BP mulls selling stake in Brazil Polvo field
BP is considering selling its majority stake in a Brazilian offshore oil field it operates, after its productive potential fell short of expectations, newspaper Valor Economico reported on Friday, Reuters reports.
The transaction would be the first sale of oil assets already in production in Brazil, Valor said, and since BP is the operator of the 16,300 barrel-per-day project, known as Polvo, potential buyers would need to possess the relevant permits to enable them to operate the site.
The report cited unnamed sources aware of the deal who said BP considered Polvo's potential smaller than hoped for and that it had proven geologically complex and challenging to operate.
No press officials were immediately available to comment at the company's Rio de Janeiro headquarters when contacted by Reuters.
The Polvo field began production in 2007 and the remaining stake is owned by Denmark's Maersk Oil, Valor said. The project is part of a group of assets BP bought from Devon Energy Corp in 2010 for $7 billion. Many of those were taken over at an exploratory phase. BP had no plans to sell its other assets, the report said.