ConocoPhillips is looking to sell assets in Oklahoma worth more than $1 billion, according to sources

People familiar with the situation said that ConocoPhillips has begun exploring the possibility of selling oil and gas assets it acquired from Marathon Oil when it bought the company for $22.5 billion last year.

Sources said that the energy producer hired Moelis & Co as an investment bank to manage the sale of the assets. However, they added that talks were at a very early stage, and a deal was not guaranteed.

Sources, who requested anonymity because the discussions are confidential, said that the assets, which include operations in the Anadarko basin, which spans approximately 300,000 acres net, will fetch a price greater than $1 billion. Two sources stated that the Anadarko assets produced around 39,000 barrels equivalent to oil per day. Of this, about half was natural gas.

One source said that producers are also potential buyers. They bet on the surge in demand of natural gas for power generation by data centers.

ConocoPhillips & Moelis have declined to comment.

ConocoPhillips could raise $2 billion through the sale of non-core assets.

ConocoPhillips of Houston, which acquired Marathon in November and assumed about $5.4 billion worth of debt, has already sold assets valued at more than $1 billion.

ConocoPhillips gained a presence in the Bakken, Eagle Ford, and Permian basins with the Marathon acquisition. It also gave the company operations in Equatorial Guinea and the Anadarko formation. (Reporting and editing by Leslie Adler in New York, Shariq Kan and David French from New York)

(source: Reuters)