By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Sept. 17 -- Kerr-McGee Corp., through its subsidiaries Kerr-McGee Ecuador Energy Corp. and KM Global Ltd., has completed the sale of all Ecuadorean assets to Perenco Ecuador Ltd., a unit of privately held French exploration and production firm Perenco SA, and another, unidentified firm, for $88 million.
The assets sold include Kerr-McGee's 50% interest in two production-sharing contracts for Blocks 7 and 21 and its 4.2% interest in the Oleoducto de Crudos Pesados Ltd., or the OCP pipeline. Production from the properties is 14,000 b/d of oil. The transaction is retroactive to July 1 and awaits government approval.
The transaction marks the halfway point for meeting a $1 billion goal for property sales this year, said Luke R. Corbett, Kerr-McGee chairman and CEO. "Our asset sale program is resulting in a significant reduction in debt. We also expect a reduction in our unit lease operating expense of more than 20% next year, relative to 2002," Corbett said.
Recently, Kerr-McGee has sold $170 million worth of assets in Indonesia; the Bayu-Undan project in the Timor Sea, for $132 million; interest in company-operated northern North Sea fields: Murchison, Ninian, Columba, Lyell, and Strathspey, for $120 million, plus a 5% working interest in the Harding field; Ross field for $22 million; and the Hutton tension leg platform for $29 million (OGJ Online, Sept. 6, 2002).