2011-05-31-2011-05-17

To buy interests in the Wytch Farm, Wareham, Beacon and Kimmeridge fields in North Sea

BP Plc, London, (NYSE: BP) has agreed to sell its interests in the Wytch Farm, Wareham, Beacon and Kimmeridge fields in the North Sea to London-based Perenco UK Ltd. for up to $610 million in cash.

The price includes $55 million contingent on Perenco's future development of Beacon Field and on oil prices in 2011 through 2013.

The sale of these interests is part of BP's plan, announced in July 2010, to divest up to $30 billion of assets by the end of 2011. Before today's agreement, BP had already announced sales agreements totaling around $25 billion.

The sale of Wytch Farm is an outcome of BP's strategic aim in the U.K. to invest in a more focused North Sea business portfolio in the northern North Sea, central North Sea, West of Shetland and Norway.

"Today's agreement brings us even closer to the target of $30 billion of divestments by year end that we set out last summer. It demonstrates that we do have assets of quality that other operators see as more strategically valuable to them than to BP, thus unlocking value for our shareholders," says BP chief executive Bob Dudley.

An immediate payment of $500 million has been made and a further $55 million will be paid on completion, which is expected at the end of 2011.

Trevor Garlick, regional president for BP North Sea, says, "The North Sea region is a very important area for BP and we will sustain a significant business here for the long term. We are currently investing around $4 billion per annum of capital and operating expenditure, which includes four major new field development projects in the UK and two in Norway."

It is expected that impacted BP employees based at Wytch Farm will transfer with the asset to Perenco.