MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

BP considering sales of assets in Argentina

The UK corporation is in deep trouble because of the Gulf of Mexico spill

British Petroleum, BP, is actively considering the sale of its stake in Pan American Energy LLC, Argentina's fastest growing oil and gas company, according to oil industry sources quoted in the Buenos Aires press.

BP said in March that it would sell assets totaling between 2 billion and 3 billion US dollars. In June the company increased that figure to up to 10 billion, and said it planned to sell assets over the next year.

A spokesman for BP declined to say which assets the company might be interested in selling.

“We're going through a process of identifying assets that we will sell or look to sell over the next 12 months” said Toby Odone, a BP spokesman in London. “While that process is going on we won't talk about any of those assets.”

In March the Argentine oil and gas company Bridas Energy Holdings, or BEH, confirmed that China National Offshore Oil Corporation Limited, or Cnooc (CEO, 0883.HK), would take 50% stake in its Bridas Corporation subsidiary.

The two companies struck a preliminary agreement enabling BEH, which currently owns all of Bridas Corp., to share strategic and management decisions with Cnooc subsidiary Cnooc International Limited. Cnooc said it would pay 3.1 billion USD for the 50% stake.

Bridas has hydrocarbons operations in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile and is developing projects in different parts of the world. Bridas' portfolio includes a 40% stake in Pan American Energy LLC, which operates in southern South America. The other 60% of Pan American is held by BP.