BP to 'reshape' its U.S. natural gas business

HOUSTON, March 5 (UPI) -- British energy company BP said it would create a unique business unit in the United States to take advantage of shale natural gas opportunities in the Lower 48.

"Over the last few years, we have fundamentally reshaped our North America gas portfolio," BP Upstream Chief Executive Lamar McKay said in a statement Tuesday. "Now it's time to reshape the way we run the business -- and we are very excited about this bold step forward."

The U.S. shale unit will have headquarters in Texas, where the company already manages a substantial stake in the Eagle Ford shale, one of the most prolific shale basins in the United States.

The company said its resources base in the Lower 48 is about 7.6 billion barrels of oil equivalent, distributed across 5.5 million net acres and in more than 21,000 wells.

The company said it has invested nearly $50 billion on its U.S. portfolio in the last five years.

BP said it would start disclosing separate financial statements from the spin off in 2015.