BP Hopes to Sell Shut-Down North Sea Oilfield

Over the past few years, major oil producers have retreated from the age-old basin by selling assets to smaller companies, which are specialized in extending late-life fields.  

Among others, after operating for 25 years, the production at the Foinaven oilfield was stopped last year as London-based BP plc. (NYSE: BP) plans to dismantle its floating production vessel. 

Per a Reuters report, BP has set out to sell its Foinaven oilfield in the North Sea, which is presently closed. Remarkably, the Foinaven oilfield still has around 200 million barrels of oil in reserves, which can be extracted with minimal investment. 

Though no financial details have been shared, BP has hopes of getting an attractive deal on the expected rise in domestic production in Britain. Oil and gas prices have rallied recently and Europe has announced plans to divest with Russia following its continued war on Ukraine.

A BP spokesperson refrained from commenting on the news. 

BP and Marubeni’s Strategic Partnership 

With the aim of establishing an offshore wind position in Japan, the major Japanese integrated trading and investment conglomerate, Marubeni, announced a strategic partnership with BP. Apart from offshore wind, the two companies will also work on other decarbonization projects, including hydrogen. 

Per the terms of the agreement, BP will hold a 49% stake in the proposed project. Moreover, the company will back a local offshore wind development team in Japan. 

Wall Street’s Take 

Recently, Morgan Stanley analyst Martijn Rats upgraded BP to a Buy from a Hold, although he did not assign a price target. 

The rest of the Street is cautiously optimistic on BP, which has a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on six Buys, three Holds, and one Sell. The average BP price target of $36.17 implies 17.59% upside potential. Shares have gained 30.06% over the past year.    

Bloggers Weigh In 

Bloggers seem enthused by the company’s developments. TipRanks data shows that financial blogger opinions are 92% Bullish on BP, compared to a sector average of 76%.

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