BP Revises Terms of Alaskan Sale

BP is still committed to finishing the sale of its Alaska business to Hilcorp, having renegotiated the terms of the deal to take into account recent market volatility and the oil price rout, it said on April 27.

Under the revised agreement, the transaction's value remains $5.6bn but the structure of the consideration and the phasing of payments has been altered, the oil major said. Completion is targeted for June 2020.

"We look forward to progressing swiftly to completion and for Hilcorp to take over the operation of this important business," BP's chief operating officer for upstream regions, William Lin, said. "We are confident that completion of this sale is the right thing for both parties, for the business and for Alaska."

The sale, originally agreed last August, includes BP's entire upstream interests in Alaska, which include extensive oil and gas acreage, as well as its stake in the Trans Alaska Pipeline System which carries oil. At that time Brent was trading at around $60/barrel, but it has since slumped to around $20/b.