BP parts with Gulf assets for $200m

Oil major BP said yesterday it was selling assets in two mature Gulf of Mexico fields as it pushes on with its divestment programme.

US firm Stone Energy will pay BP $204 million (£129m) for interests and assets in the Pompano and Mica fields south-east of New Orleans.

BP chief executive Bob Dudley said: “The sale of these mature assets will allow us to concentrate our efforts on the major production hubs and significant growth opportunities that BP has in the Gulf of Mexico.”

The British firm still operates seven production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, including some of the largest deep water oil and gas fields ever discovered.

Last month, it announced plans to extend its asset sale programme – unveiled in the wake of the fatal Deepwater Horizon accident in April 2010 – to $45 billion.