US oil and gas producer Apache will sell a 33 per cent stake in its Egypt oil and gas business for US$3.1bn to state-owned Chinese oil giant Sinopec Group
Apache, which has been selling noncore assets globally to focus on US onshore production and shore up its balance sheet, said it has also formed a global strategic partnership with Sinopec to jointly pursue upstream oil and gas projects.
The Egypt deal will be the first step of the joint venture with Sinopec Group, Apache said in a statement.
Apache noted that it was assessing the value of its Egyptian interests, which accounted for roughly a fifth of its global oil and gas production and 27 per cent of its revenue last year.
The company revealed in the statement that its Egyptian exploration and production operations “remain unaffected” by the political turmoil in the country as they are located in remote, unpopulated areas.
Net production from Apache’s Egypt operations averaged 100,000 barrels of oil and 354mn cu ft of natural gas per day in 2012, Apache said, adding that it has employed about 9,000 people in the North African country.
