Chevron Corp. is marketing its interest in more than 2,000 oil and gas wells in Alaska, the company told Reuters on Sept. 19, in a move that could mark the oil major’s second exit from oil production in the state in three decades.

One of the earliest companies to prospect for oil in Alaska, Chevron helped develop the state's oil industry last century but later exited output there in 1992. It returned a decade later with its $20 billion purchase of Unocal.

The company is offering stakes in three oil fields, it confirmed. It holds around 10% in Alaska’s Endicott field, 5% in Kuparuk Field and 1.2% in Prudhoe Bay. Bids are due this month. The stakes are nonoperating interests that provide a share of profits.

A sale could fetch between $450 million and $550 million, according to a Rystad Energy analyst using comparable transactions.

If a sale materializes, Chevron would follow in the steps of BP Plc, which in 2020 sold its producing assets to closely-held Hilcorp for $5.6 billion and exited. Exxon Mobil separately transferred operations of Point Thomson oilfield to Hilcorp last year but retains a majority stake.

The properties offered include interests in pipelines in the Kuparuk and Endicott fields, according to three people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss confidential information.

ConocoPhillips Co. operates the Kuparuk Field, while Hilcorp operates Prudhoe Bay and Endicott, and either could bid on the assets, two of the sources said.

ConocoPhillips declined to comment. Hilcorp did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The oilfields that Chevron is offering produce around 9,400 bbl/d of oil and gas. Overall production in the state has been declining since a peak in 1988 when output exceeded more than 2 million bbl/d of oil.

In 2021, Alaska produced 437,000 bbl/d of oil, the lowest since 1976, according to U.S. government data.

Comments