Debt-laden Occidental Petroleum Corp said on Oct. 1 it has agreed to sell its onshore assets in Colombia to private-equity firm Carlyle Group Inc. for $825 million.
The international energy company based in Houston said it is continuing to advance other asset sales as it tries to find cash to pay off debt amid a crude price crash. It has so far announced over $2 billion worth of divestitures this year.
The Colombia assets sale, expected to close in the fourth quarter, includes the company's operations and working interests in the Llanos Norte, Middle Magdalena and Putumayo Basins.
The company has operated in the Andean country alongside Colombia's majority state-owned Ecopetrol for more than 40 years. The two companies also have a joint venture in the Permian Basin in the U.S.
Occidental said it will retain a presence in the South American country through its offshore exploration blocks.
"We have expanded our strategic partnership with Ecopetrol to the onshore U.S. and to exploration blocks offshore Colombia," Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub said in a statement. "These highly prospective offshore blocks hold tremendous potential that could significantly bolster the country's energy resources."
A spokesman for Ecopetrol said the company had no comment on the sale of assets.
Occidental's debt ballooned after it paid $38 billion to buy Anadarko Petroleum last year, an ill-timed bet on rising oil prices. The company had total long term debt of $36.03 billion as of the end of June, according to Refinitiv data.
In August, the company said it would sell some of its Wyoming, Colorado and Utah assets to Orion Mine Finance for about $1.33 billion.
Recommended Reading
Iraq to Seek Bids for Oil, Gas Contracts April 27
2024-04-18 - Iraq will auction 30 new oil and gas projects in two licensing rounds distributed across the country.
Aker BP’s Hanz Subsea Tieback Goes Onstream
2024-04-22 - AKER BP’s project marks the first time subsea production systems have been reused on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
E&P Highlights: April 22, 2024
2024-04-22 - Here’s a roundup of the latest E&P headlines, including a standardization MoU and new contract awards.
Deepwater Roundup 2024: Americas
2024-04-23 - The final part of Hart Energy E&P’s Deepwater Roundup focuses on projects coming online in the Americas from 2023 until the end of the decade.
Technip Energies Wins Marsa LNG Contract
2024-04-22 - Technip Energies contract, which will will cover the EPC of a natural gas liquefaction train for TotalEnergies, is valued between $532 million and $1.1 billion.