Thursday 2 September 2010

BP sells Malaysian petrochemical operations to Petronas

BP continued its asset disposals to pay for the cost of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill with a $363m (£235m) sales of its Malaysian petrochemical operations to state-owned Petronas.

The oil company is selling a 15pc stake in Ethylene Malaysia and a 60pc interest in Polyethylene Malaysia to the Petronas, which already operates the two businesses.

It will also be eligible for a possible $48m dividend from the ethylene unit.

Sue Rataj, president of BP’s Global Petrochemicals Business, said in a statement: “BP will continue to focus on the development and expansion of our olefins and derivatives business in China, and other large rapidly growing markets, and pursue opportunities in China and India.”

BP in July pledged to sell as much as £20bn of assets to meet the spill costs. It has agreed to sell oil and gas fields in the US, Canada and Egypt to Houston-based Apache for $7bn. - www.telegraph.co.uk