BP may sell assets to cover cleanup costs

NEW YORK, July 12 (UPI) -- BP is talking with a Houston company about selling assets to raise up to $12 billion to help with oil-spill cleanup costs, a source told The New York Times.

The Times reported Monday that BP's cleanup costs for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the largest offshore spill in U.S. history, could reach as high as $70 billion.

BP has said it would put $20 billion in an escrow account to cover cleanup costs. It has also suspended dividend payments, which would provide the company with access to about $8 billion, the newspaper said.

A source said it is not a done deal, but energy firm Apache may purchase BP's 26 percent stake Alaska's Prudhoe Bay oil field, which is one of BP's prized possessions.

Apache, an independent company, holds interests in production and exploration in the United States, Canada, and Egypt. In 2006, Apache purchased the rights to 18 oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico from BP. In April, it purchased Mariner Energy for $2.7 billion and Devon Energy's Gulf of Mexico assets for $1.05 billion.