BP Buys Devon's New Mexico O&G Assets

BP Plc on Friday said its U.S. onshore unit has acquired all of Devon Energy Corp's oil and gas properties in the San Juan Basin in New Mexico for an undisclosed price.

 

BP expects to take over operation of the 480 wells spread across 33,000 acres in the first quarter of 2016 after receiving required government agency approvals, it said.

 

Battered by a crude downturn that has stretched for more than a year, many independent oil and gas companies are selling assets or contemplating selling assets they no longer consider essential as a way to raise cash.

 

BP, which started operating its Lower 48 onshore unit as a separate business in early 2105, already holds 550,000 acres and has average output of 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the San Juan Basin which spans New Mexico and Colorado.

 

Shares of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma based Devon rose 4 cents to $29.02 in midday New York Stock Exchange trading. So far this year the stock is down 53 percent. U.S.-listed shares of BP fell 6 cents to $30.29.