Murphy Oil Corp. (NYSE: MUR) said April 27 it plans to shed its interest in the Syncrude joint venture (JV) in Alberta for C$937 million (US$744.7 million).
The company's Canadian subsidiary has entered an agreement to sell its 5% nonoperated working interest in Syncrude Canada Ltd. to Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE: SU).
Syncrude is a JV operation in the Alberta Sedimentary Basin, which extracts bitumen from oil sands and upgrades it to light synthetic crude oil. Production averaged 15,600 barrels of oil equivalent per day (net) in the first quarter of 2016.
Murphy Oil, based in El Dorado, Ark., acquired a stake in the JV in 1993, according to the company's website. The company has decided to divest the asset as it "repositions" its portfolio, said Roger W. Jenkins, president and CEO of Murphy Oil.
"Syncrude has been an integral piece of our production and reserve base for over 22 years," Jenkins said in a statement. "During that time we have increased our overall resource base significantly and we continue to narrow our scope as an independent oil and natural gas company."
In recent years, the company has balanced its offshore business by venturing into the onshore unconventional space in North America, including Canada's Montney Shale and the Eagle Ford Shale in Texas.
The sale of Syncrude, expected to close mid-year 2016, will further the company's focus in North America on its unconventional assets and also strengthen the financial flexibility of its balance sheet, Jenkins added.
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