HOUSTON, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Australia's BHP Billiton Ltd. and its partners are paying $1.35 billion to buy an oil and gas development in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
The Genghis Khan development, which is owned by Houston's Anadarko Petroleum Corp., is part of the same geologic structure as the recently sanctioned Shenzi project and includes estimated gross hydrocarbon reserves in the range of 65 million to 170 million barrels of oil equivalent. The field has two wells and development infrastructure in place. First oil is expected in mid-2007.
BHP Billiton will take a 44-percent stake in the assets and be named operator; Respol YPF, a Spanish energy company, and Hess Corp., which is based in New York, will each own 28 percent, the companies said Monday in a news release.
"Similar to the Statoil transaction announced Nov. 6, this divestiture further advances our efforts to reduce financial leverage following the acquisitions of Kerr-McGee and Western Gas Resources in August," said Jim Hackett, Anadarko's chief executive. "Due to the size and quality of the portfolio we have established in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, we have the opportunity to realize value from targeted divestitures."
