LONDON — BP declined to comment Sunday on a report that it is in talks about possibly selling $12 billion worth of assets, including a stake in Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay oil field, to U.S. oil company Apache Corp.
London’s Sunday Times said Houston-based Apache was discussing the possibility of acquiring BP assets. The newspaper did not cite a source for its report. BP spokesman Robert Wine and Apache spokesman Bob Dye said their companies would not comment on “speculation.”
Natalie Loman, an Alaska-based spokeswoman for ConocoPhillips, which owns about 36 percent of the Prudhoe Bay field, declined to comment on the “market rumors.” BP owns 26 percent of the field, and Exxon Mobil Corp. holds about 36 percent.
Apache’s exploration and production interests include the Gulf of Mexico, the Western sedimentary basin of Canada, Egypt, western Australia, the North Sea and South America.
The Sunday Times also said Ex xon Mobil is considering a bid for BP. Citing industry sources, the paper said Exxon Mobil had contacted the Obama administration for clearance to make a takeover offer.
Exxon Mobil, based in Irving, Texas, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
“We don’t speculate on market rumors, and I have no comment about that,” BP spokesman Steve Rinehart said Sunday.
BP has said it plans to raise $10 billion this year selling assets, but analysts said it likely is simply speeding up an ongoing program.
The company, which also isn’t paying a dividend this year, agreed last month to set aside some assets as security while it builds up a $20 billion compensation fund to guarantee that the oil company pays for all the damage from the massive gulf oil spill. BP says it has already spent more than $3 billion dealing with the spill.
