BP streamlines Alaskan business

HOUSTON, April 23 (UPI) -- British energy company BP said it was selling its stake in oil fields in the North Slope of Alaska in order to focus more on gas and the Prudhoe Bay oil field.

Lamar McKay, chief executive officer for BP's upstream operations, said the sale to Hilcorp, an energy company based in Houston, gives BP the opportunity to focus on managing larger oil and gas opportunities in Alaska.

"This agreement will help build a more competitive and sustainable business for BP in Alaska," he said in a statement. "We will now concentrate on continuing development and production from the giant Prudhoe Bay field and working to advance the future opportunity of Alaska LNG."

Alaskan legislators this week passed a measure that would advance a program to develop liquefied natural gas in the state. BP is a co-owner of the LNG development project.

BP said its assets sold to Hilcorp represent about 19,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day in production, or less than 15 percent of BP's net production on the North Slope.

The company said the sale has no impact on its operations at the Prudhoe Bay oil field, where BP said it plans to deploy two new drilling rigs by 2016.

There was no statement from Hilcorp on the transaction, and no financial terms were disclosed.