(Adds detail, BP shares)
April 27 (Reuters) - BP said on Monday it had amended
some financial terms of the $5.6 billion sale of its Alaska
business to privately held Hilcorp following the recent slump in
oil prices, which may lead to a lower cash boost than initially
planned.
The revised agreement retains the total consideration but
adjusts the structure and phasing of the remaining payment,
which includes smaller payments in 2020 and a new cash flow
sharing arrangement in the near-term, the British oil major
said.
The new structure is however expected to maintain "the
majority of the value of the transaction," BP said.
BP shares were up 1% at 0845 GMT.
The original agreement provided for Hilcorp to pay $4.0
billion near-term and $1.6 billion through an earnout
thereafter. Hilcorp paid a $500 million deposit on signing of
the transaction in 2019, BP said.
The company still expects to complete the deal in mid-2020.
U.S. crude oil futures collapsed below $0 last week for the
first time in history, dragged down by a supply glut and sagging
demand for crude due to the coronavirus pandemic.
BP agreed to sell all its Alaskan properties, including
interests in the most prolific oil field in U.S. history at
Prudhoe Bay and the 800-mile (1,300-km) Trans Alaska Pipeline,
to Hilcorp Energy Co last year, exiting a region where it
operated for 60 years.
(Reporting by Tanishaa Nadkar in Bengaluru and Ron Bousso in
London; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Kirsten Donovan)
BP (BP.)
