BP Ends 60 Years in the North Sea, Puts Business Up for Sale
New chief executive Meg O'Neill moves to simplify the oil giant and pay down debt
By Barnaby "Bottom-Line" Coyne
Sixty years of history goes on the auction block Friday.
BP announced it has launched a formal process to sell its North Sea oil and gas business, a move that would end six decades of production in the region by the company that helped build it. The decision follows an internal review of BP's operations, according to the BBC and the Guardian.
The sale is the clearest sign yet of the direction new chief executive Meg O'Neill wants to take the company: smaller, simpler, less indebted. BP has been carrying heavy debt loads for years, and the North Sea business — while still producing oil and gas — no longer fits what the company calls its "highest-value opportunities."
"The North Sea remains integral to the UK's energy system," the company said in comments carried by the Guardian. "However, as we focus our portfolio and direct capital to our highest-value opportunities, we believe our North Sea business will be better positioned as part of another company. It has world-class people, resilient assets and a proud heritage."
The sale lands amid a live political dispute in the UK over future North Sea drilling licences, and comes as BP tries to find a buyer willing to pay what it considers fair value for assets it once built its identity around.
What's not yet public: who might buy it, what happens to North Sea jobs once a new owner takes over, and whether the licencing fight in Westminster complicates a deal. Those are the numbers workers in Aberdeen and beyond will be watching closest.
Somebody's paying for this. Let's find out who.
— Compiled from reporting by the BBC and the Guardian.
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