Statoil named as possible buyer of BP assets

28 July 2010 – Norwegian oil major Statoil ASA (OSL: STL) could be one of the potential buyers now when UK energy major BP (LON: BP) will sell assets worth USD30bn to cover its debt, Oystein Noreng, professor in petroleum economics, told yesterday Norwegian news source E24.no.

Statoil has a lot of money and invests around the world, Noreng, who is professor at the BI Norwegian School of Management in Oslo, said.

However, he said that right now he does not know which assets and with whom Statoil will buy.

BP wants to reduce its net debt by between USD10bn and USD15bn within 18 months.

“BP will sell some of its assets, also in the Gulf of Mexico. It is not known if these would be deep-water installations,” Noreng said.

(EUR1 = USD1.3)

Source: TradingMarkets.com