ConocoPhillips and BP announce Clair and Kuparuk asset sales

BP has agreed an asset swap transaction with Conoco Phillips. The deal will see BP increase its portion of the Clair field in the North Sea while Conoco Phillips will gain a portion of the Kuparuk field in Alaska.

ConocoPhillips is selling its 16.5% stake in the BP-operated Clair field, but will retain a 7.5% interest in the west of Shetland project. As a result, BP will hold a 45.1% interest in Clair.

ConocoPhillips has also entered into simultaneous agreements to acquire BP’s 39.2% interest in the Greater Kuparuk Area in Alaska and BP’s 38% holding in the Kuparuk Transportation Company for an undisclosed price.

The giant Clair field has a complex fractured reservoir estimated to have had more than 7bn barrels of hydrocarbons originally in place. First production from phase one development was in 2005, targeting approximately 300mn barrels of recoverable resources, and the field produced an average of 21,000 boe/d in 2017. The second phase of development, Clair Ridge, is targeting a further 640mn barrels of recoverable resources using an innovative low salinity (LoSal) enhanced oil recovery process. It is expected to start production later this year, with production capacity of 120,000 boe/d. Appraisal has also identified potential for future stages of development of Clair.

The Greater Kuparuk Area is operated by ConocoPhillips Alaska, and includes the Kuparuk oil field and the satellite fields of Tarn, Tabasco, Meltwater and West Sak. In 2017, the Greater Kuparuk Area had average daily gross oil production of approximately 108,000 b/d. The agreement will also include BP’s interest in the Kuparuk pipeline, which transports oil from the Greater Kuparuk Area to the inlet of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (TAPS) at Pump Station 1.

The transaction will not affect BP’s position as operator and co-owner in the Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska.

Clair field
Photo: BP