Apache Corporation agreed to pay BP p.l.c. $7 billion for oil and gas assets in Texas, New Mexico, Canada, and Egypt on July 20. BP plans to use the cash to help fund the $30 billion it’s raising to pay for damage caused by its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. To that end, Apache advanced BP $5 billion of the purchase price on July 30, well before the deal’s expected close later in the third quarter pending regulatory approvals.
The deal is composed of three separate purchases, none of which depends on the other. Apache will pay BP $3.25 billion for gas assets in western Canada, $3.1 billion for fields in the Permian Basin (which is in West Texas and New Mexico), and $650 million for five properties in Egypt. BP has announced plans to sell other properties. On August 3 it agreed to sell its oil and gas exploration business in Colombia for $1.9 billion to Ecopetrol S.A. and Talisman Energy Inc.
