New sale sees BP dispose of £12.8m assets to help pay for oil spill disaster

The group announced it had sold its 60 per cent interest in Pan American Energy (PAE) to Bridas Corporation, a company half-owned by China National Offshore Oil Corporation, for $7.06bn (4.5bn).

The sale brings BP closer to its target to sell up to $30bn (19bn) of assets by the end of 2011 to help pay the compensation bill for the Deepwater Horizon explosion in April – which sparked the largest offshore oil spill in history.

Before the deal, BP had secured $14bn (8.9bn) worth of asset sales, by selling interests in North America, Egypt, Venezuela, Vietnam and Colombia.

BP group chief executive Bob Dudley said yesterday: "Today's agreement further demonstrates both the high quality and attractiveness of the assets throughout BP's global portfolio and also the company's ability to meet our significant financial commitments arising from the Gulf of Mexico tragedy."

BP ultimately expects the cost of the oil spill to be about $40bn (25.6bn).

Earlier this month, BP revealed an additional charge of $7.7bn (4.9bn), in addition to a $32.2bn (20bn) hit in the second quarter.

The initial charge included a $20bn (12.9bn) compensation fund and sent BP into the red for the first time in 18 years.

The explosion on April 20 killed 11 workers and caused an estimated 4.9m barrels of oil to gush into the Gulf – the largest offshore spill in history.

BP has now raised about $21bn (13.4bn) through asset sales to meet the clean-up costs, legal fees and damages emerging from the tragic event.

Under the most recent agreement, Bridas will pay a deposit of $3.53bn (2.3bn) for PAE, with the balance due on completion which is expected next year.

The well at the Deepwater Horizon site was permanently sealed on September 17.