By Ron Bousso and Shadia Nasralla
LONDON, June 7 (Reuters) - BP is again seeking buyersfor its stake in the Shearwater oilfield in the British NorthSea after talks with Royal Dutch Shell fell through,industry and banking sources said.
The talks between Shell, the field's operator, and BP faileddue to disagreement over the value of the 27.5% stake, thesources said.
Industry sources estimated the stake was worth $250 millionwhen Reuters first reported on the talks in April.
Shell holds a 28% stake in Shearwater, while Exxon Mobilhas the remaining 44.5%.
Shell and BP declined to comment.
Ariel Flores, BP's North Sea boss, told reporters inAberdeen this week that the company wanted to focus ondeveloping the Eastern Trough Area Project (ETAP) hub, locatednorth of Shearwater.
"You can't do it all in the central North Sea," Flores said,when asked about BP's thinking on Shearwater.
Shearwater, 225 km (140 miles) east of Aberdeen, wasdiscovered in 1988 and first developed in 2000.
At peak production, the gas export capacity of theShearwater hub is expected to be around 400 million standardcubic feet per day, or roughly 70,000 barrels of oil equivalentper day, according to Shell.
Shell announced plans last year to expand a gas hub aroundShearwater, including the construction of a new pipeline.
(Editing by Dale Hudson)
BP (BP.)
