Published: August 24, 2017 |

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Mining giant BHP Billiton confirmed that it would exit from its US shale oil and gas business after determining them to be under-performing and non-core for the overall operations of the group.

The decision was revealed during the announcement of its annual results for the year that ended 30 June 2017 in which the Australian-based mining, metals and petroleum company registered an underlying profit of $6.7bn.

BHP Billiton disclosed that it is actively pursuing options to exit the onshore US assets. The miner said that it is exploring multiple alternatives but will only sell the assets for value.

While execution of the options is expected to take time, until then BHP Billiton will continue to complete its well trials and acreage swaps. It also plans to study mid-stream solutions to boost the value, profitability and marketability of its onshore US acreage.

BHP Billiton CEO Andrew Mackenzie said that multiple parties have expressed their interest in buying the company’s US shale operations as per a report in Reuters. However, Mackenzie did not disclose the price the company was looking at for the divestiture.

BHP Billiton though revealed that the divestiture of a portion of the Hawkville shale field in Texas is in progress and likely to be executed in the September 2017 quarter.

Earlier this year, BHP Billiton rejected activist investor Elliott Management’s proposal to spin off $22bn worth of its US petroleum assets.

In the last four years, BHP Billiton had streamlined its portfolio by more than one third with the divestiture of over $7bn worth assets in the US.

Source: (August 22, 2017) Energy Business Review

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