BP: paying for Macondo

BP Plc has announced the sale of its natural gas business in Western Canada and properties in Texas and Egypt to Apache Corp as part of a $7 billion deal to raise funds to cover costs related to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Apache will acquire assets in Alberta and British Columbia producing 240 million cubic feet of gas and 6,500 barrels of gas liquids a day.

Earlier in the day, BP said it would sell $1.7 billion worth of assets in Vietnam and Pakistan.

Apache increases it Canadian presence: it is partners with Encana Corp in the Horn River shale gas play in northern British Columbia and has an interest in a planned LNG liquefaction project on the Pacific Coast.

Earlier this year Apache acquired Mariner Energy Inc. and Devon Energy Corp's shallow water drilling assets in the Gulf of Mexico