BP to split off US onshore oil, gas business

March 4, 2014
BP PLC has reported plans to establish a separate business to manage its onshore oil and gas assets in the US Lower 48. BP currently oversees its Lower 48 onshore assets through its Houston-based North America Gas group.

BP PLC reported plans to establish a separate business to manage its onshore oil and gas assets in the US Lower 48. BP currently oversees its Lower 48 onshore assets through its Houston-based North America Gas group.

The new business will operate separately from the rest of BP, led by a separate management team in Houston apart from the company’s Westlake campus.

BP said it will have separate governance, processes, and systems designed to address the unique competitive and operating environment in the Lower 48 onshore.

The company is expected to begin disclosing separate financials for the new business next year.

BP in recent years has reshaped its North American Gas portfolio by divesting noncore assets and focusing development in US unconventional plays such as the Eagle Ford shale in South Texas (OGJ Online, Apr. 4, 2013). Overall BP has invested $50 billion in the US over the past 5 years.

The company holds an unconventional resource base of 7.6 billion boe across 5.5 million acres and an interest in more than 21,000 wells.

The company employs 20,000 people in 50 states.