Apache Sells Stake in Egypt Oil, Gas Business to Sinopec

Apache Corporation has sold 33% of its oil and gas business in Egypt to China’s Sinopec Corporation for $3.1 billion.

The American firm will continue to be the operator of its Egypt upstream oil and gas business, it said in a statement.

Net production from Apache's Egypt operations averaged 100,000 barrels of oil and 354 million cubic feet (MMcf) of natural gas per day in 2012. Gross production during the period averaged 213,000 barrels of oil and 900 MMcf of gas per day.

The Egypt partnership is subject to customary governmental approvals and is expected to close during the fourth quarter, with an effective date of January 1, 2013.