Yahoo Finance Apache sells Wheatstone and Kitimat as ‘top strategic priority’
Apache joins league of E&P companies reducing capex and drilling (Part 5 of 6)
Fourth-quarter acquisition and divestiture activity: Wheatstone and Kitimat
During 4Q14, Apache (APA) sold its Wheatstone and Kitimat LNG assets in Australia. The company called this its “top strategic priority” in 2014. Estimated proceeds from the transaction will be approximately $3.7 billion, which the company intends to use to pay its debt. The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2015.
Chevron Corporation (CVX) is developing the Wheatstone and Kitimat LNG projects. Both Apache and Chevron make up ~15% of the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) and ~2.3% of the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP).
Be sure to check out Chevron’s latest earnings and results.
Anadarko Basin and southern Louisiana
In December 2014, Apache completed the sale of noncore properties in the Anadarko Basin and southern Louisiana. The net proceeds it received from the sale was $1.3 billion.
Argentina region and deepwater Gulf of Mexico
Apache also completed the sale of its Argentina region to YPF SA (YPF). The region is its deepwater Gulf of Mexico interest and other noncore assets in North America. The company announced that total completed and announced worldwide asset sales for the year 2014 came in at $7 billion. It also said that it enhanced its North American portfolio by purchasing approximately $1.2 billion of what it called strategic acreage.
John Christmann, Apache’s president and chief executive officer, said, “2014 was a year of transition marked by the completion of many of our key strategic portfolio repositioning initiatives. . . . 2015 will be a year of tangible operational results. . . . This will put us in an excellent position to efficiently ramp-up the capital program and take advantage of market opportunities as commodity prices recover.”
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